Infinite Cosmos
by Candy-Vegetto
Summary: Infinite power, in your grasp. What would you do with it, if you never wanted it in the first place? An old relic, withstanding the depths of time, awakened by Zach the Original. After years, forgetting that name, Gumball is now a happy child, with the potential of infinite destruction. Now, read as I don't follow parts of my summary.
1. The Umbrella: Zach the Original

**Infinite Cosmos**

**The Umbrella**

**Chapter 1:_ Zach the Original_**

* * *

><p>Years before we knew of Gumball, there was Zach, the original name of the blue cat. That was his real name, his birthright, but it was long forgotten. His <em>new<em> name, his nickname, Gumball, was just an illusion to the world. An illusion that even nobody knew. As a baby, Zach had tipped a pricless artifact. In order to cover up, Nicole and Richard made a nickname for the baby, and thus Gumball was created. They forogt, and left it at that. The artifact was never destroyed, nor broken into pieces, just touched.

Every now and then, pieces of its power showed itself through Gumball... such as having enormous amounts of luck, faster healing and the ability to create lawbreaking things. There were so many others, but as time grew by, there would only be one left, a chosen power from the user's body. The occurences of this power was so rare, it was almost as if he had never gained it. Or tapped the Infinite Cosmos accidentally.

The essence of the relic was so powerful, few others have touched it, and gained this power. But at a young age, his memory was a wiped out into a haze, no longer remembering that he had ever touched something in a museum. Thus, he never knew of this ability of infinite energy.

The Infinite Cosmos, a powerful entity, with particles that no one has ever identified. _They_ found this, experimented on this, and even tried to find what powers it gave. Devastating. Touching it for too long causes the body to implode from the infinite gravity the power had. It was unbreakable, the force given out of it was stubborn. It was not heavy, nor was it nigh impossible to move, it was just indestructible. This relic was just a stone from space, filled with magical properties. Hey, it _could_ make a great shield, if you had enough resistance against it or protection from its infinite power.

Amazing energy fueled through his veins. Passed on with one touch.

Just one touch.

Infinite power.

Tell me, Gumball, with this kind of power in your grasp, and still at a young incomprehensible age, what would you do?

* * *

><p>"Oh, me? Well, I would be a supervillain." Zach replied.<p>

"Gumball, I was just asking you if you wanted ice cream." Darwin stated, worried about his brother's condition.

The blue feline turned to face the goldfish, "Huh? What? I didn't hear you."

"Then... why did you say what you just said just now?" he asked, how he didn't bite his tongue was unknown to him.

"What _did_ I say?" Gumball arched a brow. He repeated his memory, saying whatever he said silently to himself. "Well, I would be a superhero."

Darwin backed away, "I thought you said you wanted to be a supervillain."

"When did I say _that_?" the cat questioned in a confused tone. "_Why_ did I say that?"

"Because you're more of a destructive force, rather than a helpful one?" the goldfish guessed. "But really, you don't have enough motivation or the drive to go ahead and be a hero. You're more like the one who orders people around."

"I help!" Gumball interjected, before slamming into a pole, and recoiling onto the ground.

Darwin rubbed his fish-chin. "No, you're not one who helps. You're one who _needs_ help."

Gumball stood back up, soothing his nose. "I don't need help. I can do things myself."

"Then..." Darwin smirked, "...why don't you do your homework yourself?"

"Pfft, that doesn't count. I don't have the talent to do such nonsense." He waved it off, before walking into the same pole.

* * *

><p>School had been, for the most part, boring. Maths, Science, a language class, none of these enticed the cat. He wanted something he was good at, something he won't be humiliated with. Cooking maybe? He was decent in making scrumptious dishes. The school <em>had<em> a reason to lessen the cooking lessons—it had no budget for it... and it was a lie. Of course, Gumball knew this was a not-so elaborate plan made by Miss Simian with her relations to the principal. Eugh, it made him want to hurl.

Then, there's this new kid at school. Strangely enough, he's become this idolized kid everyone wants to be the second he pops up. It left a bad taste in Gumball's mouth, knowing there's _another_ person better than him. Maybe the kid even pities him, which just spits all over his self-esteem. He could get through it though. It just bothers him how annoying this kid could be on his first day. Hell, Gumball wouldn't even know if anyone was new in that school because he never took track. Untill now...

He was just like those characters people create to make the perfect guy. Just like Superman. Or what people call a Gary-stu. Anyways...

This kid picked Gumball's table to sit in, because he said 'there were no other seats'. Darwin looked around to see if his statement was true. Obviously false. There were still seats near Clayton. And there was that one table in the far end where one guy had made a rumor (Hm... Clayton perhaps?) of a spirit haunting it. Most people didn't believe because Carrie was nowhere near there, but to make sure, they never sat there.

Gumball felt so out of context. People are literally harboring their ships of food onto his table, only wanting to know more about this new kid. So, he and Darwin changed tables (Because more people there means less people other places, _logically_.) to not get crowded. This new kid started being an unaware prick and moved with them.

_What is with him? He wants to come over wherever we sit. _Gumball eyed over to the new kid, who was answering questions of other people. _If he has a fascination with Darwin, then just sit with him, not me! _He stared at Darwin, who seemed like he was trying his best to looked as annoyed as Gumball, but failing. _If he has a fascination about me, then I'll have to make myself look bad—again—to lose my cool rep and push away this annoying son of a—_

"Hey, Gumball, you think you could move so we could sit with the new kid?" someone out of his peripheral vision asked, the tone was as threatening as a baby. Probably trying to act cool.

_Woah, what was I thinking? _Gumball thought, suddenly becoming conscious about his aspect of thinking. _Okay, this guy is making me go overboard. I'm going crazy, and Darwin's statement about me becoming a supervillain is becoming more and more true... and I don't want that._

"Nah, he's cool." the new kid answered for him, making the cat go nuts about him. He existed, why didn't he speak? He could just throw himself off and it'll be normal. It might make him lose some friends, but at least the new kid would stop being with him. He's trying to reassure that Gumball is cool! Who _is_ this guy?

"Look, man. I don't know who you are, but I want to move. So can you not follow me, as Darwin and I are going to change seats to an _uncrowded_ area." Gumball informed, tone as hasty with a bit of vengeful spite. The cat looked over to his brother, and nodded him to come with him. "Come on, Darwin."

Scavengering the hall for tables were easy enough. Going back to their table, with no one bothering or taking their place, they sat with relief. "Man, that was... weird." Darwin started, after being muted for the last couple of minutes.

Gumball scratched his head in response. "That kid is driving me nuts. He thinks I'm popular!" he sighed, "I'm _not_ popular."

"Well, maybe you're infamous for your crimes of destruction..." Darwin pouted afterwards, reassessing that thought. "I'm thinking I'm your assistant now..."

"Dude, stop turning me into a supervillain." Gumball replied.

Darwin shrugged, "You said you wanted to be one."

"I _don't_." Gumball said, his eyes darkening as his head bowed.

"Not trying to be pushy, but you're turning more into a supervillain with every second." Darwin stated. "Hey, what do you think about the new kid?"

"If my body language doesn't tell, I think he's terrible." Gumball said, slumping. "I don't even feel regret saying that, unlike when I said that to Tina or Jamie, because let's face it, this kid is just annoying. He has the strange ability to make me feel annoyed by his simple actions. Just look..."

The pair turned their heads to look at the new kid, who was getting the attention of everybody. All of them had left their seats or tables, even _food_, just to talk to this guy. His appearance, as not stated before, was a cat, like Gumball, which irritated him because there is another person in the school stealing his flow. His fur was golden shade of yellow, which makes sense for Gumball to think he was smug. The golden fur gave him a nice shine too, maybe people are asking what shampoo he uses. The new cat wore formal clothes, too much like a school uniform, even though they have the right to dress up as anything.

"He's _obnoxious_." Gumball remarked.

"Well, I have some contradictions. For one, he has better table manners than you," Darwin said, "for two, there's not a single bit of dirt on him."

"He's _obnoxiously_ perfect." he snarked.

"Huh, yeah. He _is_ perfect to the point it's disgusting." the goldfish put a finger to his chin. "I think I get it now."

Gumball asked, "Get what?"

"He wants to sit with you because you're the only cat in this school." Darwin implied.

"Yeah... he's trying to fit in." the cat droned while turning back to his seat. "Ugh... it makes me feel bad now. I'm making a bad impression about this. He just wants to fit in. Makes _so_ much sense."

Darwin momentarily blinked, "Wow, I can't believe how much of a supervillain you are."

"I know," groaned Gumball.

* * *

><p>The pair were walking out of the school, wanting to leave as fast as possible. They had an important game to catch up to, but really, Gumball didn't know what he was doing. He could've gotten to the school bus, but there was <em>no<em> school bus. It was weird, so he and Darwin just walked back home. The cat noticed that the path he was taking looked shorter than before, but he didn't know. It might just be a visionary problem. He probably needed glasses now.

He heard Darwin stop, and so did he, and he turned back to see the new kid in the goldfish's place. Gumball didn't look for his brother, instead, he just acted like it was a regular occurrence. Where was Darwin though?

"What are you doing here?" the new cat asked.

Gumball arched a brow, "Isn't it me that's supposed to be saying that?"

"Yes," the golden cat narrowed his eyes. "And you are in the correct location."

Almost instantly, like a reflex, the blue cat asked, "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Remember this place." he said, putting his arms out. "This will be where we battle."

_What did I do?! Did I make this guy angry? What happened? _Gumball thought. "What are you talking about?"

The golden cat snapped his fingers, "Tomorrow."

* * *

><p>"That was weird."<p>

"Yeah..." Gumball looked down at the carpet floor. He had just told his brother about the interaction he had with the new cat, who surprisingly, nobody knew about his name. "What am I supposed to do? What fight?"

"Well, you got to be prepared." Darwin informed, "You can't just fight him without anything."

"You're right." Gumball made a straight face, standing up from the bed, "I should get prepared! Training to win!"

Darwin stood in front of the cat. "I have a secret art of hand-to-hand combat, which specializes in hand-to-eye coordination. Do you want to learn it Gumball?"

Gumball did a fist pump, "Yes!"

"Well, then... let's do the patty-cake!" the goldfish said.

Gumball put his hands out, and so did Darwin. The two clapped each others hands, until Darwin revved it up by putting his fins far out of the cat's reach. As a reflex action, Gumball reached to clap it in time, and successfully struck it with precision. They did this with Darwin's fins being the target, and getting faster and faster till Gumball made some losing streaks. Yep, and neither of them noticed.

Gumball paused, "Hand-to-eye coordination... _too_ easy!"

"I guess you've done this training well." Darwin bowed. "That's it for today, good luck for tomorrow."

* * *

><p><span>The next day, and not specified which day...<span>

"You'll need a weapon to use for the fight." Darwin informed.

Gumball looked around, "I'll just use this umbrella. It can act as a shield. And it's like a sword too!" He grabbed the black umbrella and went off.

* * *

><p>"I wonder how it got to this point..." Gumball thought out loud, standing on the location where the fight was supposed to take place. "Why did I come though? I could've easily just stayed home. Also, there's no reason to this fight, so <em>why<em>?"

"Because you're not yourself." a voice called from behind. Gumball turned to face the golden cat, who had come in with a tuxedo and a gauntlet. "You're not _really_ Gumball."

"Hey! What are you talking about!?" the blue cat shouted, "Can you not act mysterious?!"

"Okay, I'll break it down for you..." the golden cat breathed in, "Have you not noticed the time dilation getting thinner and thinner to the point that it almost felt like an instant since you talked to Darwin about your weapon of choice?"

Gumball gasped, "How did you know about—"

"Do you remember any detail of the game you played along with Darwin. Have you asked the vanishing of your brother when I confronted you on this very spot yesterday? How was your day yesterday, get any dinner?" the golden cat inquired, "You didn't notice because you were fooled by the illusion of your thoughts, mind and dreams."

"That... makes a lot of sense." Gumball replied.

"In fact, do you remember how harshly you acted towards me?" he asked, "Have you ever considered it weird to have such hostility against me? Or is it weird that I somehow have the knowledge that only _you_ know? What about the school bus that just disappeared? The sudden answer to your brother that you stated that you wanted to be a supervillain?"

"To be fair, I didn't know about that." the blue cat cut in.

"What abou this?" the golden cat paused for a moment, creating silence. "Do you know _where_ are we?"

Gumball looked around, finding the place to make no sense to him. "...no."

"We're in your dream, Gumball." the golden cat asked, "Is the reason 'invasion of privacy' good enough to fight for? If you die here, you'll die _out there_. In the real world. It doesn't matter either way, if you wake up, I'll be there the next day."

"This suddenly turned serious..." Gumball inhaled deeply, "Why'd you want to... _kill_ me?"

"You don't know how much _real_ chaos could you cause, do you?" the new kid asked, "It's better you don't."

Gumball raised his umbrella like a sword, while the golden cat lifted his gauntlet. The new kid then unsheathed a sword from it, a silver blade covering his whole forearm. The two did a standoff, making the blue cat more nervous than he was at the start. His hand started to shake, and anyone could visibly see the umbrella vibrating in the air. The golden cat kept his cool, leaving his blade by his side.

"Last question... do you know my name?"

Gumball looked through his memory, finding out he didn't even know. He looked again, but no sign of a breakthrough.

"Good."

The cat dashed at Gumball, who opened up the umbrella, making a shield. The new kid's blade struck the canopy, but the weapon bounced off harmlessly, creating yellow sparks of friction. The new kid jumped over Gumball, who turned and closed the umbrella, and clashed with his sword. _Something_ possessed him to continue, and he did, forcing out actions to start striking back at the golden cat with his umbrella. The other cat blocked the umbrella hits with his blade, before charging into Gumball's side and striking for his back.

The blue cat swung the umbrella behind him, and opened to create a shield for himself, instantly rocketing the striking blade off. How the umbrella hasn't been torn to shreds was a miracle for Gumball, he didn't know what this thing was made of to become this sturdy. But like the golden cat said, this was a dream... and if he dies here by his logic, then he dies in the real world. The new kid jumped back, bending his legs, and then charging at Gumball with more force. The blue cat turned and closed his umbrella, and blocked at the exact time the golden cat struck. Another round of yellow sparks flew, as metal clashed with mettle, before swiping out and then striking each other's weapons over and over.

The golden cat tried to stab, but was countered by either a sword block or a shield block. He tried to parry, but the umbrella was able to brush away any scratch or damage dealt to it and kept on being the resilient thing it was. Gumball started getting more faster, exerting his muscles even more forcibly, slashing out a split second before the new kid could block. But it wasn't as pointy or sharp like a sword, or it would've sliced right through the golden cat's body. Of course, all that's left was a large bruise and an even more wrinkled tux. The new kid stopped any movement on his body, dazed.

Gumball then batted the golden cat to the ground with another strike, which caught him while he was stunned. The blue cat towered over the new kid, and he pointed the tip of the umbrella at him, which just got sharp the instant he did that. He didn't notice how dangerous it would've been if he stabbed someone with it. The pressure applied to that central amount of force, he would've made a cut on the new cat's face if he moved his arm a bit further.

But, the golden cat smirked, "How's the body... Zach?"

"Wh-what?"

"You didn't think all that happened was all you, _did_ you?"

* * *

><p>Gumball gasped, jolting up into a sitting position. He felt the covers in his fingers, and <em>not<em> the umbrella. He was back... back into reality. He was in the real world, right? His eyes scanned for anything he could see. Everything was in place, he looked for any similar detail that was different, otherwise it would be a dream again. There was a lingering feeling behind his mind, as his eyes just... stopped at one place.

It was there.

Propped on the wall and by the cabinet.

The Umbrella.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So... The Umbrella was inspired off of the RHG named "Umbrella". Just look up 'RHG Umbrella'. It's awesome.**

**Anyway, I tried to keep it as true as a dream would go by. Not being able to read correctly, forced movements, forced thoughts, uncharacteristic actions, things that would never happen and random things keep generating **_(new kid, the Umbrella...)_**, it makes sense now right? How it could be possible for some things to happen. Oh, and people shouldn't be able to fully remember a dream. But, make this an exception, please? This isn't a lucid dream, because Gumball didn't realize, nor _can_ he right away realize.**

**Okay... I guess this is it. Time to end this chapter here? Yeah, _totally_...**

* * *

><p><strong>Heyyy! Future me here! I've made a contents page!<strong>

_**The Umbrella: **(Chapter 1-6)_

**Zach the Original  
>Marked for Death<br>Mister Ree of the Portal  
>Find the Backstory<br>Fight, Heal, Repeat  
>Bring End Unto Them<br>**

_**The Order:** (Chapter 7-10)_

**Point of No Return  
>Forming Against<br>Big Bad B  
>Mission Infiltrate<strong>

_**Special: The Reality** (Chapter 11)_

_**The Original: **(Chapter 12-17)_

**TBA**


	2. The Umbrella: Marked for Death

**The Umbrella**

**Chapter 2: _Marked for Death_**

* * *

><p>Gumball stared. He just kept staring at the black Umbrella that stood on the wall. It was the same one in his dream, it had the same metal cane and hard-fabric canopy. It was folded, tucked into the opposite side of his room. It had the sharp point, which looked extra sharp when he wasn't using it or within its grasp. It was a beautiful weapon, with the most basic design choice. Creative <em>too<em>!

_Where did _that_ come from? _The cat thought, eyes shrinking with every second he looked at it. _It wasn't there _before_!_

He covered himself with his blanket, hoping it was just another illusion. He removed it, and stared at the far side of the room. It was still there, leaning on the corner of the cabinet. It was gleaming with whatever light there was, and its texture looked like a foldable metal alloy. He got out of bed and walked over to it.

"What _are_ you?" Gumball asked silently, brushing his fingers across the exterior. It was hard, like it wouldn't be able to open up into a shield if he tried. But he knew it could, if his dreams were correct. It had a cold, but still warm, rough, metal touch. The cane looked wooden, but the handle felt like metal, this time it was colder, as it was sensitive to his touch. He held it up, and examined the tip of the Umbrella, finding it pointy indeed.

He did a few swishes with it, watching as the air made a ripple noise and the friction acting upon it. It was like using a racket, which he was never good at. His balance with the Umbrella was never great. His dream showed him magically perfecting swordfight when in reality he couldn't correctly hold the Umbrella. But it was a lightweight, easily movable for a fight. It was designed to, at least. All he needed to do was balance the Umbrella correctly to make the most epic strikes possible. All this thinking of the Umbrella left his negative thoughts away, even the ones about his death.

"This is _so_ awesome."

* * *

><p>While waiting for the school bus, Darwin and Anais were bemused as to why Gumball had an Umbrella with him. "Gumball, why are you bringing that umbrella with you?" Anais asked. She looked up at the skies, searching for any clouds, before staring at Gumball. She stated, "It doesn't look like it's gonna rain."<p>

"Aha! That's where you're wrong! With this baby, there's always gonna be a rain..." Gumball put on a pair of sunglasses, despite the sun not being that bright. "...of _terror_."

Darwin put a fin on his chin, "I get it." The goldfish pointed it at him. "But dude, that's an umbrella."

"It's no _ordinary_ Umbrella—" Gumball was cut off by his sister.

"Gumball, everytime you introduce something you made to us, it's gonna end in a disaster." Anais said. Before Gumball could reply, she cut him off again. "Remember Kenneth? Or the board game that you and Darwin made? What about the tinfoil helmet of luck?"

Gumball laughed, "HAHAHA! That's where you're wrong! I _didn't_ make this."

"So..." Anais contemplated at the black Umbrella. "...it's a normal umbrella?"

"No. It's a special Umbrella used for combat and defense." he explained, swishing the Umbrella like a sword, but failing with each strike. "I'm not used to it yet." Gumball admitted, "But with practice, I could become a master!"

"I have to say... it's very original." the pink bunny confessed. "But you seriously think that an umbrella could save you?"

"Like I said," Gumball spun the Umbrella, but he lost his balance and fell onto the pavement, head first. "...it's no ordinary Umbrella."

Darwin pulled him off the sidewalk, and dusted his clothes. "That's not helping. That's more like... the opposite of helping."

"But this Umbrella is totally awesome. Check it out." Gumball opened the Umbrella, and showcased its metallic canopy to the two. And they waited. And waited. And waited.

Anais arched a brow, "What... does it do?"

"It's a metal frame. Perfect for blocking." Gumball explained, "It's sturdy, hard and unbendable! It's the best thing to face off against winds! And it's not heavy!"

"Cool... I guess..." Darwin said.

"Isn't it gonna rust?" Anais asked, "It's a _metal_ umbrella, and if it dries off after getting washed with water..."

"_Relax_, it's stainless steel." the blue cat thought about it for awhile. "I think."

* * *

><p>"Hey, loser, it's not raining!" a voice said.<p>

"I know that!" Gumball replied, slamming his locker door. He turned to face the person that insulted his weapon, and found none other than Tobias.

Said person scratched his chin, "Uh... then why'd you bring it?"

"Because I want to." the cat answered, turning away from the jock. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to—" his eyes wandered off to the side, before widening, "—_no_..."

Scuffling through the crowd of students, was he. Him. The new kid from his dream. The golden cat that screwed up his mind and dreams, and he's here to kill him... Said golden cat was now pushing people off, wearing a tuxedo, and having that angry expression on his face. People started to remark, calling him names. Anais and Darwin walked up to Gumball, and looked at the direction he was staring at. They were, again, bemused as to why he looked frightened of the new kid.

"His name is Ree." Darwin informed, "Wanna meet him?"

"Ree? I've alway thought his name was new kid." Gumball slumped, his face displaying a sign of pain.

Ree started nearing him, and he had both sleeves of his tux rolled up, and on both arms were a gunatlet each. Both were golden, having the same intricate design Gumball never realized he remembered. Then, he knew what was inside of those gauntlets, deadly blades. Among the students, he opened the black Umbrella, much to the discomfort to the three, Darwin, Anais and... Tobias.

"Dude, what are you doing? We're indoors—"

SHHAACK! The sounds of two swords being unsheathed echoed throughout the halls. They all gaped, and some who were able to process information faster, began to run. Others shrieked in a high-pitch voice, presumably girls... or boys who were _really_ scared, and annoyed the others with their horrible screaming. Ree started walking faster, and his destination was Gumball, who was ready to pull the Umbrella in front of him.

"Oh crud! I'm _leaving_!" Tobias informed, then ran off to the corridors.

Anais and Darwin pulled Gumball away, but the cat stayed. "Dude, come on! That stupid umbrella isn't going to save your—"

CHTAANG!

"—life?" Darwin whimpered, watching yellow sparks drive out of the clash between the Umbrella and the twin blades.

"Go!" Gumball ordered, and the two were off.

"What about you?" Darwin asked, pausing at the end of the hallway.

Gumball didn't have enough time to say anything. Darwin knew, he should _probably_ go. The golden cat jumped over and slashed at Gumball, who tried to redo what he did in his dream, but was only fast enough to block the strikes instead of parry. Losing ground, the blue feline rammed the Umbrella further, but Ree placed his blades across like an 'X', easily blocking the blunt attack. The new kid was faster than the blue cat, and was able to get the edge by jumping over and slashing downwards while in midair. Gumball could only dive down for cover, barely missing the attack.

His hands were getting clumsy, just as his nervousness and fear was rising. He accidentally let go of his Umbrella, and the weapon skidded across the floor. Ree leapt at the cat, arching back a punch, with a blade mounted on his fist. Gumball took off hurriedly, trying to grab his Umbrella, but he missed it. He turned, and Ree was standing in front of the Umbrella, as if some kind of guard. The new kid charged, and he ran away, fearing for his life.

Knowing the school halls, the blue cat tried to find a way to get back to his Umbrella, all the while trying to concentrate on running faster. He could literally feel the air around Ree, getting closer to him. Even with cat-like agility and stamina, it wasn't of use if he didn't use them everyday. He was... rusty with his _natural_ abilities. He turned to the right, and then right again, and then another right, and he could see the hallway of his locker.

He was running in a circle, but Ree was getting closer. The instant he was in the corridor of his Umbrella, Ree tackled, and for whatever reason, Gumball did a slide drift, unknowingly dodging Ree's blade attack. He heard the clank of the lockers being dented, _and_ the sound of it being shredded. Gumball's legs were on the move and he got his Umbrella back.

He turned and found Ree charging at him. Gumball opened up the Umbrella in front of him, and felt the weapon turn. The golden cat was remarkably stronger than him, he could tell by now. The cat was using one hand to move the Umbrella away, while Gumball kept using two to keep it stabilized.

"Not attached to the weapon?" Ree taunted, "Typical."

_Why does he want to attack me? I've done nothing..._ He gripped the cane hard, thoughts of anger against unreasonable violence were hanging in his head. He closed the Umbrella, bringing it to its weapon form. _...WRONG! _He batted Ree away with the side of the Umbrella. Having the force of metal clashing with your ribs at full speed was _not_ a good thing. The golden cat slid on his back, before flipping back upright.

"Getting better... but that's nothing. You won't learn to adapt to that weapon fast enough."

Gumball gritted his teeth. "What is wrong with you!? Why do you want me dead?" his voice echoed through the school, and anyone who was in proximity of the building could hear it.

"Didn't I tell you?" Ree charged, taking Gumball by surprise, and struck him in the cheek with the side of his iron sword, leaving a bruise. Gumball's head followed the force, smashing into a locker. The new kid sheathed his blades, letting them stay inside the golden gauntlets. "Let's just say... your kind disgusts me."

Gumball got up, rubbing his swollen cheek. "That's... _it_? You don't like me? You don't like how I _am_? THAT'S YOUR REASON?!" He raised his Umbrella, and then struck the weapon at him.

Ree caught the Umbrella, much to Gumball's dismay. "There's something deeper than that, actually. But if I let you know, you'll become even—" He clenched a fist, bringing it to a full curve into Gumball's head. "—worse." He then did a high-knee strike to the chin, before spinning and kicking him upside the head. Two blows forced him into unconsciousness, but the blue cat could go on, he had the strength to. "Even though you're remarkably better than others. You're still nothing but another one of those powerful pests."

Gumball could taste blood in his mouth, and maybe the warm liquid running down his head was the same thing. He felt lightheaded, his vision blurred, and his body getting heavier and heavier. He used the Umbrella to help himself up, but Ree kicked that weapon away and lifted him by his chin. He slammed him into a locker, denting it open and papers started to fly everywhere. The blue cat was having the headache of his life, but he knew this was his chance. He mustered up all his strength and kicked him in the chest, releasing him from his hold. Ree cursed, as papers started flying with the wind, obscuring his vision.

Ree swatted the paper away, unsheathing his swords to slash and cut through the fog of white sheets. When the wind died down, Gumball was gone... and so was his Umbrella.

"That idiot..." he muttered.

* * *

><p>Gumball's feet were never on the floor at the same time, trying to get away as fast as possible. He had the Umbrella in hand, the only weapon he had. He didn't know how this got into the real world from his dreams, but it was better to not think about it. He may have made it unconsciously, someone put it there or... something illogical and stupid. He barreled through the doors to the back of the school, the basketball court.<p>

"Ohh _no_! No-no-no-no-no! I should be at the front exit, not the back!" he muttered, catching his breath.

He walked over to the middle of the court, looking back at his school. This was the most viewed spot into his school, and vice versa, this place could see the windows of the school, and what's through them. So, where was Ree?

CRASH! Glass shattering to the right. The golden cat landed in the area, the dead zone for Gumball. Where was he gonna run to? There were high fences behind him, and by his sides were brick walls of the school facility and _more_ fences! Ree was standing around, walking slowly around him like he was his prey. Gumball raised his Umbrella, before Ree immediately jumped at him and clashed his silver blade with the Umbrella. His other arm, was aimed for a direct hit to the head, in which Gumball realized, and ducked under.

He rushed to the ground, but Ree had made an expertise move to prepare his leg if this were to happen. He slammed his boot into the cat's body with full force, potentially breaking some of his ribs. It knocked the wind out of him, and knocked his body a few feet away, rolling to a stop. The Umbrella was in his hand, never letting go, he used it to get himself up again, only to be knocked down by an elbow. He could've finished this with his sword, but it began to dawn on him. _He's playing with me. He's not ending it because... I don't know! He's insane? He wants to cause more pain to me— _Histhoughts were stopped by another boot to the head.

Gumball gasped, stumbling backwards. He couldn't use his Umbrella for anything, now that his vision was swimming. He could only see the blur of golden yellow covered with white and black, getting closer to him. He tried to hit, using his other senses to help him. But he was struck back an instant before, feeling the side of the sword smack him in the face. That wasn't enough for Ree, as he gave another blow. This time, it was much harder and more forceful.

The force of the strike shot Gumball into the air, losing the Umbrella in the process. He landed painfully into a wall, sliding down to the ground. The golden cat leapt forwards, catching up in an instant, and grabbed him by the neck. He lifted him up, strangling him in one hand, while Gumball could only gasp for air, trying to pry his arm off.

_Gah! This guy... not kidding... have to... ugh... _Gumball felt a sudden pain shoot through his waist._ ACK! Agh, what the what?! My body... feels so cold... AAAHH—What's the use?!_

His mind went into overdrive, his nervous systems telling him that his back was painfully pressed against the red brick wall. His eyes were drooping, he was losing air, his processing systems have stopped running. His arm started to waver, losing its grip on his arm. Ree was winning, almost there, and he would either blackout or... die.

CLANK! Ree's head bobbed forwards, releasing him for a bit, giving him a bit of oxygen before recovering from his head pains and putting his hand around his neck. He looked back, finding a goldfish who was in a throwing position.

"I... I actually hit him." Darwin whispered.

Anais, by his side, pulled him out of the way. "Yeah! Move over! He's angry!"

Gumball's vision returned. He could see clearly. His brain functioned more, trying to find a way. Heat gathered. His vision turned into a shade of orange, anything darker was red, anything lighter was yellow. There was an aura around his eyes, like a calm, but also raging, fire around it. His pupils turned orange, and he began to focus more and more on his hopes.

BLAM! An orange explosion bursted into the golden cat's face, rendering his sight useless for the moment. Screaming was heard. The burns and pains were overwhelming! Sending a massive spike to his neural systems. He pulled his arm back, releasing Gumball, and clutching his face in pain. The blue cat stared in awe, catching his breath, before regaining his composure.

_I did _that_? Holy cow, I _am_ awesome! _He thought, breathing raggedly.

"You finally found out, huh?!" the new kid asked, gritting his teeth. His eyes were covered, but if Gumball would guess, he would be glaring at him if he hadn't made that explosion. "Well then, you should know by now that you should be eliminated!"

Gumball ran over to the Umbrella, taking it and opening it as a shield. Ree removed his hands from his eyes, revealing burn marks of the third-degree. The golden cat charged, and Gumball did the same, "I don't need to die!" Their weapons clashed once more, but Gumball's strike was more sloppy and was yielding. "We don't need to fight!" He wearily did another strike, but Ree was able to counter and make a cut into his arm. "We don't need to—AACK! What the—" he felt his waist stinging and burning, wincing with each movement. _What did he... Oh my Universe... I've been stabbed._

"Oh, that?" Ree backed away a couple steps, making some distance between them. "That happened when I strangled you back there."

Gumball kept his left arm by his stomach to cover his wound, but his flesh had been pierced through, cut all the way, and he was bleeding heavily. His right arm held the Umbrella, and his fingers were already starting to uncurl itself. His sweater was soaked in red, but it wasn't enough to stop the blood flow. Energy, he was losing time. Death was near, and its impact on him would be fatal. What would happen after death? Who was he to have paradise after living this kind of life?

"Ugh..." the second his mouth opened, a thin line of red bodily fluid started to drip. His vision became hazy, as everything began to grow dark. "No... must keep..." _Why won't I die? Because I have a life! So much to do... must keep going... _His muscles started to argue with his brain, as he dropped to one knee, using the Umbrella as a support beam. His left arm was straining from holding his stomach, and if he rested it on his belly, he would feel the sting of a hundred suns. His breathing became unstable, deep, heavy breaths were what kept him alive.

Ree walked forward, sword raised. "Goodbye, Zach Watterson."

_Zach? Who's Zach... _"Who's Zach?" Gumball managed to sputter out coherent words, which surprised him. Then, he heard something. Some kind of crackling electricity, a hum of energy. His senses tell him that it was... a dimensional portal.

The golden cat looked up from the wounded feline, and saw the green sparks of electricity that got his attention. It opened into a green two-dimensional circle, the outline looked kind of like a vortex. Inside, was a copy of the blue cat, holding a missile launcher. It smirked and said, "Think fast."

Ree did a backflip, and the missile was fired. The thing was going at a supersonic speed, which created a tiny sonic boom upon its launch. Gumball's ears heard a deafening ring, and he swore he was deaf for a second. Ree dodged the missile, which crashed into a wall and detonated, exploding in a giant burst of flames. Ree was caught in it, and Gumball was just a few feet from the fires. After what seemed like forever, the blue cat could hear the fires sizzling, and the sounds of footsteps going away... in two directions. The portal was gone, and he could hear people rushing in to get him, wanting to get a report on what had happened.

Finally, he closed his eyes, and fell forwards.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So... I looked back at Chapter 1, and by God there are a lot of grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. But then, I was rushing the first Chapter because I wanted to post it at an exact time. Turns out, I posted it an hour _later_. I screwed up the first impressions! Aw _man_!**

**Anyways, so... this chapter... not a lot of stuff going on? Right? Right? Wrong. Two trails of footsteps, one might be Ree, or maybe not, but who's the other one. They were running away from Gumball, so it couldn't be Anais and Darwin. Also, untapped powers... atom explosion and portal creation. Maybe sword fighting, perseverance, endurance and healing? Or not? Eh, I don't know anymore.**


	3. The Umbrella: Mister Ree of the Portal

**The Umbrella**

**Chapter 3: _Mister Ree of the Portal_**

* * *

><p>"Today was a failure. The first of many years. I've been trying to hunt down these runaways of the Infinite Cosmo. You already know them, I've explained myself a hundred times in one of these. This new one, tougher than I thought. Younger too, which is worse than the older ones that know their powers precisely." Ree sighed at the computer, leaning back on his seat. "I've explained, younger ones are unpredictable. They <em>could<em> have almost any power, until they've grown up to have only one. It looks like Gumball Watterson was... just like me—"

The sound of a beep took his attention. The place was silent, away from noise. He kicked at the desk and let his computer chair slide across the room. Another computer was still on and by the opposite side, and its only purpose was to get any news that involve any suspicions of him or any of the people that had touched the Infinite Cosmo. His eyes read the sentences in seconds, easily knowing the full story. What he found was that... Gumball Watterson was in a coma.

"I guess it's a success now..." He kicked the table that held the news computer, and slid to the computer that recorded his journal. He pressed it to stop and stood, walking to a table of his gadgets. "He'll be easier to kill this way." he said, as he pulled a mask over his face to hide away the burns. "This kid gave me a lot of trouble, well, I'm only about a few years older, but whatever, I've got a crap ton of experience more than him. But hell, he burned my face."

Instead of a tuxedo, he put on an unused grey armor he would only use in desperate situations. Gumball could wake up at any second, life is shocking, having twists and turns. Better to be safe than sorry. He put on the golden gauntlets, and grabbed a sniper rifle. He put on a new pair of metallic boots, while bringing another load of rifle bullets. With each passing second, Gumball could get better, even while unconscious. He could have a dream, finding out about his powers, just like he did with him. Realities, how complicated.

He cocked a pistol, putting it in its holster in the belt. "He won't escape this time."

* * *

><p>Moving silently, he jumped up the haunted mansion, making a slight creak. The wooden material it was made of was going to splinter, so he moved fast, climbing his way up like a spider. His black gloves got in the way, but it was needed, he couldn't tell anyone who he was. His shoes were planted into the holes of the house, while his hands were trying to open the windows. After a few seconds of trying to pull it up, he realized something. He waved his hand into the window, and found out there was no glass.<p>

_Huh, whaddyou know. I'm an idiot._ He thought, climbing into the dark room. He rolled over, lessening the noise by diminishing the impact on the floorboards. He stood straight back up, leather jacket flapping with his movement. He kept walking, knowing that this place was haunted. He knew there were a few ghosts that stay here, and only one that could remain visible to the eyes of life. _Just have to find her, explain, and get out of here._

His popped collar guarded his neck from the cold, and it was fitting. It was a jacket, a thing which helps to keep him warm, after all. But that wasn't the thing that annoyed him, it was the big helmet he had to wear. There were no holes to this headgear, but he could see through it. Thing is, it was very uncomfotable. Sure, it was metal, but he had some foam in it to make it soft. But he couldn't see clearly, as the lenses were too small for his eyes.

His hand unconsciously took hold of the strap around his shoulder and waist, which held a weapon on his back. His senses were sharp, but this was ghostly terrain. Anything could happen. And of course, there was the illusion that he was the smallest thing in the place. His mind was playing with him, the room felt like it was getting bigger. Wait, how long has he been walking? He looked back to see that he was still by the windowsill. Impossible, he should've been by the end of the room—

"What are you doing here?" a sullen, female voice asked.

_Ghostly illusion. This is ghostly terrain, why am I surprised?_ He turned to see the ghost. "Me?" the intruder asked innocently, giving the most smartass answer he could think of. He even pointed at himself to go with the acting. "Oh, I was just stopping by... to see the graveyard."

Carrie arched a brow, "You wanted to see the graveyard?"

"No, retard, I came to see you." he snapped.

"That's a first." she rolled her eyes.

"There's a first for everything." the other shrugged, "Have you heard the news?"

"You have to be more specific." Carrie replied, "Breaking into my house to just see me as a complete stranger isn't someone I'll trust. But since I'm a ghost, I'll go with it."

He bowed his head, "Gumball's in a coma."

"Oh... I had a feeling one of his plans would..." she shuffled, trying to find the right word, "...backfire." Her voice being more forced and loud. Like she's trying to conceal something.

_She's hiding it... _"Didn't you know what happened in the school?" he questioned.

"Screaming, running, no school." Carrie responded, "What are you trying to get? There's no way you just came here to talk to me, unless there's something you want."

He sighed, "I want you to get Gumball out of the coma."

Carrie's eyes widened, "That's impossible—"

"I know you can do it." The lenses on his helmet shimmered. He felt his back shiver a bit from finally getting to the point, "You've done it before."

"Why'd you want me to do it?" the ghost asked, suspicious. _How did he know?_

He contemplated at the ground. _To become more powerful? To save him? I know you love him and you would do it anyway, just like the other times? Someone is hunting him down, and he'll die if you don't wake him? _So many ways he could word it out. Which to pick? "Let's just say, there are a lot of reasons you need to get him out of this coma. The most important one would be so he could... save himself from death."

"Pssh, what's a coma gonna do to him?" she inquired.

"He may never wake."

Carrie gaped at that answer. "So, you mean... living death?"

"The thing worse than death, yes." he replied, "Imagine, never dying or resting, you're still alive and living, but you want it to end. I know you're the one who can imagine that _exactly_. You're having it right now. You don't want anyone else facing this kind of pain, do you? Except, Gumball won't be able to move as freely as you. He's not full ghost, after all."

She gritted her teeth, "Fine. Just leave this house."

He turned, and the spell of the room being giant was gone. He felt at normal size again, and the illusion was gone. He hopped out of the window, landed on the mushy dirt, and went away. Carrie stared out of the square hole of her house, and watched as the guy ran off into the distance. She sighed, and teleported, leaving a smoke of blue light in her wake.

* * *

><p>He was walking in the air, feeling no solid object to step on. But he continued to walk in the black abyss. He knew what happened, or where this was. He was in a coma, stuck here till he could find the light. There may never be a light, but with Gumball's positive outlook, there was always a light, just <em>very<em> far away. He kept walking, his legs never tiring, as he was just an astral projection of his mind. Until he could reach the light, he would come back.

It was just blackness, and nothing would help but to keep walking. So, he did. He'd done this before, in fact, he already knew what to keep doing and _what's_ happening to him. He was in a coma, yes, after being stated a hundred times, but it was drilled into his mind a couple more times. He knew to just keep walking, never back down in despair. There's always an end to this journey of bleakness.

Most of the times, this lasted no less than a day. Of course, he didn't know, but it was the Infinite Cosmo that helped him out of this. Carrie had sometimes helped him get out of this faster, but he never really believed it happened. He thought it was him hallucinating from being lonely, even Carrie didn't know what happened during his comas. But then again, she could be lying. He'd never know. This was a _ghost_ he was talking about.

A white spirit that was floating, bending the laws of reality by just being there. She was always aloft, always sad-looking, and she was getting tortured by just being there. She was the living dead, she could only watch other people enjoy stuff that she couldn't. He sighed, all this thinking of Carrie had made him depressed about her well-being. Poor girl. Poor in the descriptive of being pitiful.

"I wish you a happy life, Carrie..." he said solemnly, his voice echoing in the vast space. But how could this happen if there was no way sound could reflect back? He didn't know, his real body was in deep unconsciousness, and his mind made this place up to show his progress in coming back. "Hmph, never thought about that."

His arms swayed in rhythm with his legs, as he kept trekking towards the end, which was—I don't know... ten miles away? A hundred? He groaned in sorrow. There were other people that have faced worse, but he can't help but think people should pity him. That he should get all the attention for going through this. If that were to happen, people would talk back and give valid points for the homeless and the poor. He felt so heartless...

"Why am _I_ the one getting the most injuries out of everyone in Elmore?" he scratched his head, trying to come up with a topic to think of while he was at it. "Yes, I cause—_maybe_—almost all of the destruction in Elmore, but what about the others? How much did they get hurt compared to me? I saw fires. I saw debris. How many people got caught in it?"

Alone, dark thoughts would huddle up till he confronted them. After that, he would become his happy side after all the negativity has gone. It was a cycle of weird and strange occurences that happened with Gumball when he was acting _super_ villain-y and super innocent and good-like. There were times he was the bad guy, and times where he was just one of the good ones. He can't remember the times when he was the _only_ good one. But these thoughts have faded, they were long gone, and Gumball didn't have the thought processing to continue. Something's wrong, there was something missing in him.

"What caused it this time?" someone asked, and was apparently someone he's been thinking about just a few minutes ago.

Gumball sighed, "Someone _actually_ wanted to kill me."

Carrie floated to his side. "Oh... so, do you want the free pass now or the detour?"

"I want to go... but I feel the need to stay here." the cat confessed. _Those other people had to go through this legit. I get this friend who'd help me through this._

"Don't make this all complicated for me." she facepalmed, "Look, there's this guy that told me to snap you outta this. I don't know who he is, but he makes you sound important."

"I don't know. There's this missing feeling I have." he replied.

"Yes, you're trying to act gloomy but you're failing." the ghost narrowed her eyes at him. "I could see through you."

"I know, master of sulking." Gumball retorted with a smile.

Carrie sighed, "Do you want it or not? I could just go against this guy because I don't trust him that much."

"Just wait."

* * *

><p>Holding the sniper in his hands, he set up on a building a few blocks away. Gumball's room was near the window, how easy this target would be. Were they all out of other rooms? Hah, miserable. He peeked into the the scope, aiming for the head. Putting on the red laser would just make this seem too obvious. He needed to make this stealthy. The curtains were wide open, why would they do that, if it was nighttime already? He added a silencer on the sniper, which he made so that the vibration could lessen and practically make no sound.<p>

His hands held it up to aim, but his fingers weren't wrapped around the trigger. If he accidentally shot, it's all over for stealth and he'd have to go in and kill him himself, which would be a bit harder, but more enjoyable.

CLACK. The sounds of boots landing on the rooftop took him by surprise, there was no way anyone could get to the building unless they've devoted their time trying to climb the brick walls. This would mean only someone who knew of his assassination came here. He turned and left the sniper on its stand, and found a guy wearing a grey helmet, with black lenses for eyes. He had a leather jacket, and a strap to hold the sheath of his weapon.

The golden cat felt his gauntlets, ready to activate them. Ree glared through his mask, and sneered, "Who're you?"

"You may remember me as... Zeta." he replied, gripping at handle the of the weapon. SHING! He unsheathed it, revealing an old Umbrella, looking dull and worn. "My specialty is to defeat you." _But I know... I can't._

"Sounds like you're ready to face death. You're not even a runaway, and you're facing me? Honorable." SCHIING! The same silver blades popped out of its golden cave. "I'll make sure to remember _you_."

He pulled out a pistol, immediately shooting. Zeta lifted his Umbrella, opening it up as a shield. The bullets bounced off and shot into the air or the ground, while he slowly walked over to the Umbrella. Once in proximity, Zeta charged, bashing the canopy into Ree. He closed the Umbrella and spun, smacking the golden cat in the face with full force. Ree smashed into the ground, before flipping back up, kicking at Zeta in the chin.

Ree pocketed the pistol and focused on using his blades. Running up, he got in a close distance with Zeta, who recovered and opened the Umbrella. The golden cat jumped, stepping on the Umbrella, and flipped over it, landing behind Zeta. The mystery guy junped forward, closing his Umbrella, before turning and slashing the air he was in prior. Ree stepped forwards, shooting a bladed punch for his head, but Zeta ducked and kicked his feet, tripping him to the floor.

Zeta continued by spinning his weapon around to create momentum, before smashing it into Ree's back. The attack clinked off the armor, but it left a dent on it. Ree got up, kicking at the other with unparalleled strength. The force shot Zeta halfway through the rooftop, before he opened the Umbrella. He dashed at the golden cat, who moved out of the way and slashed at his back. His leather jacket was tough enough to withstand the pressure made into it, so he didn't get cut. He did, however, feel the force behind the attack. It spun him over to the edge of the building, and he fell off.

"Heh, stupid." Ree remarked.

Little did he know, Zeta had floated to safety with his open Umbrella. He closed it back and sheathed it in his holder, once he landed on the ground. _No! He's gonna kill him!_ Zeta thought, before leaping at the building and climbed up with the use of the windowsills. He redoubled his efforts, trying to get there as fast as possible, even exerting his upper body muscle to its limits. He wasn't that strong though. _Come on! Almost... there!_

He jumped over the ledge, finding Ree with the sniper rifle. He got a nearby brick, breaking it off, and hurled it at Ree. The small, red block struck his opponent's back, breaking into pieces. That must've dented his armor even more with the speed that brick was travelling. Ree staggered forward, almost losing his grip on the rifle, before turning and finding a tired Zeta. He pulled the trigger without looking, and Zeta dived under the soundless shot.

"I didn't think you'd come back after that fall." Ree informed, smirking under the mask. "You're persistent. All the more to enjoy this."

"I've got an Umbrella. Why would it be a surprise to find me alive after that?" Zeta asked, huffing.

Ree grunted, "Isn't that metal?"

"Well, it's not heavy." He pulled out the Umbrella and charged.

Ree threw the sniper to the side and unsheathed his blades. Zeta attacked with the weapon, he blocked his twin swords, but with another hand, the mystery guy pushed him off the building. But Ree had excellent balance, of course, he was a cat, and continued parrying strikes with no problem. Zeta found it hard to carry on, after striking continuously, he knew Ree was better than him. He was fighting with almost all his weight out the perimeter, and he was still able to counter every move he makes against him.

With each attack, he struck with ferocity, only to get it shunned in time. If only he was faster, stronger, Ree would've already fallen ten storeys down. The masked cat was toying with the helmet guy, having the upper hand when he was at an obvious disadvantage.

"I have to say, a normal person like you is doing great." the golden cat complimented, "You're mowing down my space, you're good. I like a challenge."

_Balance. Strike at his feet!_ Zeta thought, striking one last time at Ree's swords, before swiping his leg across his boots. The golden cat jumped over, stepping on his helmet, and flipping back onto the center. _Crap! Behind me! _He turned, unfolding his Umbrella, and planting his feet into the rooftop floors, securing his position. Ree started to walk, then ran, picking up speed, before jumping onto the Umbrella and kicking it off with a turn. The momentum carried over to Zeta's arms, kicking his Umbrella into the air.

"Hah," Ree said, pulling out a gun and shooting Zeta.

* * *

><p>Gumball saw her fade.<p>

"The link is getting weaker. They're moving your body. Do you want to get out of here or not?!" she demanded.

Gumball turned to her, "Okay, fine—"

She was already gone.

"Wow, the link must've gone out _fast_." he remarked, "I guess I should keep moving forward?"

He walked, feeling dizzy with motion sickness. He felt his head explode, weight getting thrown off the window. He was lightheaded, he couldn't feel his body. His limbs were numb and his body was pressurized. His ears popped and his eyes felt tired. He stopped, falling forwards. His arms caught him, but he couldn't feel if they were properly working. He might've commanded it to lift himself up, but he couldn't feel if everything was all right.

"What is _happening_?!" he shouted in fear, eyes dilating. His arms began to slip, his legs gave out, and his neck just wanted his big head to drop to the ground. He was tired, so tired he wanted to go sleep in this mysterious place.

What happens if you mental projection sleeps when you're in a coma? Would you die, or would you wake up? He didn't want to risk it. He didn't want to know.

He dropped his head unwillingly, finding his vision to become oversaturated with light. White light. Bright, white light.

* * *

><p>With cat-like agility, he jumped. He leapt over to the device in the air with finesse. The bullet had been dodged, and Zeta extended his hand toward the floating Umbrella. He could only touch the tip of the handle, before falling. Going down faster as he had no air resistance. Ree laughed as the Umbrella floated towards the edge of the rooftop, hanging limply onto the ledge with its metal fabric. Zeta watched the ground close on him, and it was only moments till he goes splat.<p>

"Oh, such bad luck." the masked golden cat remarked. Zeta's helmet began to glow green inside, lighting his lenses with murky yellow. Portal formed on the ground, showing Ree.

Green portal. The one he saw before, crackling with electricity. Two dimensional, and green vortex-like outlines. Inside, he saw Zeta falling into him with false gravity. The portal was right in front of Ree, and he was not amused. BAM! Two shoes fell through the hole and kicked the golden cat in the chest, sending out the inertia of a truck. The forceful impact could've cracked Zeta's legs if it weren't for the cushion-like armor he fell into, which was Ree, who fell back like an explosion hit him.

The green vortex imploded on itself, as Zeta slid to the ground with the momentum packed into him. Ree was stumbling backwards, arms flailing to keep his balance. The mysterious guy waited, feeling smug with what he did. The golden cat fell back, but caught himself in a cartwheel.

"You're not normal." he squinted his eyes at him, "You're another one... Wait, you're—"

"Yeah, save the formalities." Zeta interrupted. "I assume you were gonna take me out next?"

Ree tightened the straps on his gauntlets, "Damn right."

Zeta turned to run out of the rooftop, which Ree expected him to flee and run. But he took his Umbrella and aimed it towards him. "I'm not that easy to take down."

"I know," the golden cat replied, "That's why I'm going to do this right now."

_He's not gonna go easy on me anymore... he knows. _He contemplated, "Bring it on."

Ree immediately dashed, opting to go for close-ranged combat than shoot him from a distance, or run away. His two metal blades clanked onto Zeta's defenses, the opened Umbrella. The mysterious guy closed the Umbrella and struck for the vital points on the cat's body, which was harder than he thought when Ree had countered and blocked all his attacks with a strategically intelligent way. He had moved out the Umbrella to stab him in the same area he thought of striking him, but the leather proved equal resistance to his light attacks.

Zeta knew he was at a disadvantage, and opened the Umbrella again to maximize on defense. Ree stepped on his defenses, jumping over like he did many times before, and pulled out his left gauntlet. He didn't tighten the straps, he loosened them, letting it go easily. He shot out the force and turned, pushed out the air that dragged which made a low hum and fanatastic air curve. Zeta only noticed when it was too late.

SHANK!

The gauntlet's blade had gone through Zeta's back completely. Leather becoming useless.

It was too late, the cold feeling dawned on him. He was literally back stabbed, and that was the first thing that came to mind. He saw the silver sword glinting in the starry night, having little to no blood on it. He lost his grip on the Umbrella, which dropped to the ground with a clank. Ree pulled it out painfully, letting a massive amount of red liquid burst through his chest and back. A perfect reflection to where he had struck Gumball earlier, into the stomach.

Ree walked in front of the now kneeling Zeta, pulling his aghast head up. "I think you're wondering how it ended like this." He punched him with the same arm, effectively stunning him. "It's because I'm not holding back anymore." He let out a full kick, pushing most of the weight in his body to his leg, and mercilessly pushed him backwards.

Zeta's helmet was filled with his own spit, his own bodily fluids. He was drowning in red liquid, which was seeping through his helmet and going down into his leather jacket. He held his wounded waist, trying to stop the blood. It was burning, stinging and fatigue inducing. Both mental and physical strain were employed, holding him back. He forced himself to move forward, but the sharp pain caused him to contract back to the floor.

"You're weak," Ree pulled him up, and threw him onto his Umbrella, which did nothing to help. "Slow," he marched forwards onto him, pressing his foot down into the wound, gaining a scream. "And you're low on stamina." He swung his left fist, the one without the gauntlet, into his helmet, which got dented painfully.

Concussion.

Zeta remained soundlessly, being limp. He was unconscious.

Ree kicked his boot off him, going for his sniper rifle by the edge of the rooftop. He strapped on his gauntlet, and sheathed back the blades. He pulled the sniper closer to his head, and he found his target was gone. Gumball's body was nowhere to be seen.

He turned to the unconscious body, "Son of a_ crap_."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ah, got this finished. I hoped this chapter got to your expectations or hyped you guys up.**

**Overkill much, Ree? Oh well, you'll just have to face the mystery guy with the old Umbrella—oh, wait, you beat him. Darn.**

**Anyway, I think this wasn't as dark as the other stories in the Gumball archive. I mean, wooaaahhh, look at that, so much dark stuff going on in other stories. So, yeah, I thought it was still okay because, this is for teenagers. Who in that age group is still innocent enough to still need censors for this? I know I'm a teenager, and I don't need censors. **_(I think.)_

**Okay, so it has been a rough day for Zeta. Just a question, you already know who he is, do you? I know you do. It's _so_ obvious. Because, if you knew, the title would make so much sense.**


	4. The Umbrella: Find the Backstory

**The Umbrella**

**Chapter 4: _Find The Backstory_**

* * *

><p>He could hear murmurs.<p>

"...Gu...all...umball...Gumball, WAKE UP!"

He felt his body jolt, head feeling weight again. He looked up at the ghost almost immediately, "What just happened?!"

"I brought you back." she replied cooly, "I teleported, scared people off, abducted you out of the hospital," Carrie looked him up and down, finding him to be completely healthy. There weren't any wounds, blood or a scratch or even a faint discoloration on his body. "...and you're fine? You have no injuries whatsoever? Weren't you supposed to be in some surgical stuff?"

"You tell me. I don't know what happened." He looked down at his peach clothes. "Hey, same thing I wore... how long was I out again?"

_You wear the same thing everyday. _Carrie arched a brow, "I don't know."

"_I don't know_ it is!" He jumped back to his feet. "Where are we?"

"Just behind the hospital." she answered, crossing her arms. "I'll go tell that mystery guy that you're awake. I can trace him since he broke into my house and his spirit is still tainted with ghostly essence." she added. A faint hum became distinct as she glowed.

"Okay, you do that." Gumball said, before he looked further and found something. His jaw almost dropped, seeing the impossible happen... again. There was no way that _thing_ was there the whole time.

The Umbrella.

Propped by the hospital wall.

_How is this happening? How did that get here?! _He asked himself inwardly, mind going at the speed of a racecar. He looked back to see Carrie gone, probably already went to find the 'mysterious guy'. He slowly walked up to the Umbrella, and grabbed the handle. It was as cold as before, nothing's new. All the details of rough metal were there. This was the same one. How did it end up here? Last he knew it was on the school's playground floor with him.

This should be in some evidence cabinet in a police station. Or it should be at the basketball court back in school. Or it should be at home. Or it should be resting by his hospital bed because Darwin and Anais know how much this thing makes him happy. In fact, he was happy now! This thing just took away the negative feeling he never had in the first place. Well, one thing, which is a sense of pity for others.

"Well, then, you're awake."

_That voice... _Gumball turned his body in a full 180, "Ray!"

The golden cat's eye twitched, but it was unseen by the cat, since he had a mask on. "It's Ree." he corrected.

"Ree, whatever." the blue cat held the Umbrella up, pointing it at Ree. "What do you want with me?"

"I want you dead." he coldly replied. "But first, there was this guy that carried around an Umbrella, like yours, but it was old. Care to explain?" Ree asked, cracking his knuckles.

"I didn't even know there was another one of these. So, I don't know who that guy is." Gumball replied, "And if you've come to kill me, then you're wrong. I'm not dying _again_!"

Ree stepped forward, "I wonder how you got out of the coma so fast," He thrusted out his arm, extending out a blade. "Explain now or you could _die_ trying."

"What? You think I was going to tell you about Carrie?" he sniped back. Gumball remained silent for a while. "Oh shizz..."

"Heh, you've gone crazier than I thought." Ree put on a fighting stance. "Carrie Krueger is a ghost. She's been dead for twelve years. I know because I saw—" he paused, a group of flashbacks ramming into his head. He blocked it out with mental superiority, clutching at his head, before regaining his thoughts. He had already forgotten what he was supposed to say. "Who are we talking about again?"

Gumball lied, trying to get it away from the former topic. He thought for a second, and then he knew what he wanted to know. "The Infinite Cosmos?"

"Oh yes, the source of your power. Magnificent piece of rock really. I wonder why the _hell_ they would put that thing in a museum." Ree replied, explaining as he always loved to. "So much power over everything. The children have a more variety of powers than the adults because these powers develop into one thing as the maturity of the person grows. We're beings of infinite energy, walking among mere naturals! Can you believe how one could selfishly become a God with this power? Do you?! This is why I'll end this before it _happens_."

"Thanks," he smirked, finally doing something intellectual. _I've actually gotten info without him noticing! Now for my escape..._ He waited, closing his eyes to focus. _Uh, I hope for it, right? That's what happened last time!_

Seeing what he was trying to recreate, Ree pulled out a pistol, "Not so fast!"

While those words were being said, the process had already began. Gumball's eyes shimmered white, as his body glowed. Particles quickly rose, as his atoms were being transported through the dimensions of space. Rapidly, piece by piece, his entire image had turned to dust, and imploded with white light. A strong gust of wind followed, getting sucked into the implosion, before exploding out and turning back to normal. All that was left of Gumball was now the dust in the wind.

The golden cat made a low grunt, "Crap..."

* * *

><p>"Oh my... <em>Universe<em>? I don't even..."

Zeta grunted, his voice hoarse from being dry. "Surprised?" _Gumball's awake now, I feel more energy coming him. I could heal myself with it..._

"How did you get into this?" Carrie demanded, floating around him. She was going to help, but what difference would it make? She was a ghost, and it would be ironic if she _did _help... To hell with it, he's gonna die anyway.

The mysterious guy crouched on the ground, using the Umbrella to hold him up. There was a puddle of blood that had formed in the epicenter of the rooftop, and now trails of red dots were just forming around him. The blood loss was getting lesser because he wrapped his torso with the leather jacket he had, and he had already lost quite a lot of blood already. "I can't feel my legs." he mentioned, "As a matter of fact, I can't feel anything below my neck."

"I'm guessing you don't want to go to the hospital that's just a few blocks away?" she asked, gaining a strangled chuckle from him.

"No... I think I could handle this." Zeta replied, trying to move with the numbness overclouding his senses. It felt weird, knowing he's doing something but what he felt told him otherwise. His brain was expecting some feedback from his legs, but it never came.

"Suit yourself." Carrie said with a sigh, "I'll see you as one of the dead in a couple of hours."

"You don't get it." he lifted his head to face her. But what she saw was a giant gray helmet and her reflection in those black lenses. She could almost see his eyes, and it resembled someone she knew. "I'm linked with Gumball through the Infinite Cosmos."

That sentence took the supernatural thing to a whole new level to her. She was a ghost, yes. But something relating to infinite, the endless void that never ends. Unlimited, unrestrained. She felt normal for once, not knowing the whole ordeal. "The infinite what'zit now?" she questioned, obviously unaware of such thing.

"The Infinite Cosmos. A relic from space. Has magical particles in it that transforms anyone in a spiritual way." he explained, nearing the ledge ogf the rooftop, while opening the Umbrella. "Gumball, in his early years, tapped it accidentally. He formed a temporary bond with it, and got powers." _...and right about now, I'm focusing on healing. _"That's why there was somebody who wants him dead. That guy wants to rid the world of us. He knows this power could make anyone... a God. But I have a suspicion that he's one of us."

"I can follow." Carrie stated, remembering her time as a ghost. Being an outcast to society was depressing. "But why do you say 'that guy' like you've already told me? Like, you think I know who this person is... and the weird part is that I know who you're talking about. Who is that guy, anyway? Why did you think I would know?"

"You ask too many questions for something you know? Are you trying to reassure yourself?" Zeta inquired, before jumping off the rooftop. Carrie let him be, if he dies, then so be it. She didn't care if he was gone from the living realm, she could communicate with the dead because she _is_ one of the dead. He landed gently onto the streets, parachuting with the umbrella, and with it being midnight, nobody could tell he was in medical need. Carrie popped up with blue-white light, but he was unfazed by her sudden appearance.

Carrie floated with him, but Zeta made it look as if he was trying to hide it from her. He actually just let it slip. "Anyway, why?" she asked.

"Why _what_? Why are you following me?" the helmet guy suggested the terminal part of the question. "Why don't you know and know at the same time? Why are you a ghost? Why am I being mysterious? Why am I wearing this helmet? Why am I—" He kept rambling on and on, till the ghost stopped him.

"I want answers." she said flatly, "I've done what you've asked me, and all you do to repay is nothing."

Zeta scoffed, turning his head to look at her. "You'd still do it."

"What do you mean?" the ghost suspiciously asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

The helmet guy stopped walking, leaning over to a wall, and holstering his Umbrella. He sighed in a mocking fashion, like when someone was lovestruck. "You love him." he said as if it was obvious. Truth be told, it wasn't. It was very complicated and he knew it before anyone could even think of that.

"Pssh, as if." she remarked, waving that statement off. "What's the probability of a ghost being with a cat? It's probably smaller than a cat being with a peanut."

He grunted, knowing full well it was a lie. "You know how I said I was connected to the Infinite Cosmos, and so is Gumball? Well, technically, he's related to me and I'm related to the Infinite Cosmos. But since he took over, he's related to the Infinite Cosmos and I'm related to him." Zeta explained, although not very fluently.

The ghost repeated what he had said over and over, finding no way it was related to her question. Maybe the infinite cosmos is about infinite possibilities? She really didn't know, and was only assuming. But one thought stood out. "Does this have something to do with having control over the body?" Carrie asked.

"Yes," he groaned painfully, wincing as the wound burned. He shuffled to a better position, making it sting less. "And you're the prime reason."

She pointed at herself, eyes widened with shock. "Me?"

"Yes, you. You took control over his body, accidentally messing things up in him, and a few weeks later, this event started happening." Zeta theorized, all this were just facts he could remember that was related, but not the full story. "Your ghostly essence mixed stuff up and his body began to give out energy signals that he had locked away years ago... when his name was completely different."

"So, you knew I love him because of the body possessing." Carrie looked away, feeling guilty. She didn't know why she felt something for the cat, but she just did. Something about repaying him for the things he did for her. He was the first one that opened up to her, and so far, the only one.

"Yes..." _But too bad, Gumball has no idea... nor does he think of you that way. At least I think. _He stared at the floor, focusing on something. After a few seconds had gone by, he looked at the ghost. "Does your teleportation work overseas?"

"Why?" she whipped her hair, "Do you need me again?"

"Well..." He leaned his head back, the sound of his helmet clanking onto the wall was heard. "Gumball's gonna visit the Infinite Cosmos in ten hours."

* * *

><p><span>Minutes Before...<span>

The room hummed with white light, and Gumball suddenly materialized out of thin air. The room shook, papers and other light stuff were getting blown outwards from his body, as he landed in the midst of his room. A goldfish was just sitting on the lower part of the bunk bed when he heard the hum. Darwin was gaping at his brother, never expecting such a thing to happen. If he were to make a probability chart of unexpected things, this would be at the zero percent chance of happening.

"Dude! Holy mother of goodies! How did you—" Darwin was interrupted by a slam from the door, which Gumball had caused.

"I don't want anyone else to freak out, so don't tell anyone I'm here!" the cat said, positioning his Umbrella by the cabinet. "Today was a strange enough day, and I'm tired. I just have one last thing on my to-do-list, and it just so happens to be finding an ancient relic."

"What kind of relic?" Anais asked, sitting in a computer chair. She was astonished by how he got here, but she hid it and kept her cool. She'd just become someone they'd ignore if she kept blaberring about stuff they weren't interested in.

"YAAA_AHH_!" Gumball shrieked, "When did _you_ get here?"

"I was sitting here in the first place." the bunny answered, "Now what relic are you talking about?"

"The Infinite Cosmos," he answered, "It's in a museum—"

"You want to steal an ancient artifact?" she asked, arching a brow. "That's gonna do major damage to our reputation as a family."

"You assume too much." Gumball said.

Anais rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

"Anyway, I want to visit this artifact called the Infinite Cosmos. I'm gonna get me some answers." Gumball said, "These weird things that are happening, like me suddenly teleporting, it's because of that. I want to know more about this and how this thing works. Because someone is hunting me down."

The part when he said that someone was trying to assassinate him made them shudder, but they shook off the cold feeling when they saw how calm Gumball was about it. Why wasn't he fazed about this? It then struck Anais. He was in the hospital for getting stabbed with what looked like a sword. "Weren't you injured?"

"Yeah," the blue cat replied, "I don't know what happened."

"Does this have something to do with the Infinite Cosmos?" she asked, forgetting about the golden cat. She reassured herself, _Ree and this _thing_ might be related._

He took a deep breath, "Yes." He then heard the chaor swish and the keyboard being tapped continuously.

Darwin stood from the bed, feeling left out as he didn't know what to do in this situation. "Well then, we better get to searching—"

"Found it." Anais interrupted, skimming through the information. "It's in a city hundreds of miles away from Elmore."

"How long till we can get there?" the blue cat asked.

"Woah woah woah," Darwin went wide-eyed. "You want to go _now_?"

"Well, if you haven't noticed, I teleported here." Gumball responded, crossing his arms.

"It's a ten hour drive." Anais stated, her mind trying to configure Gumball's teleportation. "To teleport there, you're gonna need to siphon up more energy... at least a hundred times more than what you just did."

Gumball smirked, "I'm a walking body of infinite energy." He tapped his temple, closing his eyes, looking smug as he felt smart for once. "If memory serves, infinity times a hundred _is_ infinity. I'll have enough."

Anais snorted, "If you _really_ have infinite energy, the first thing that comes to mind is that your body would explode from containing too much of it." She leaned back into the chair. "I don't believe you have infinite power being stored up inside you."

"I'm just surprised Gumball got the infinity thing correct." Darwin informed, glancing at one of them.

"Okay, I'll test to see if your infinite energy thing is true." Anais pulled out a gun-shaped device and aimed it at Gumball. She pulled the trigger without a second thought, and scanned through the cat's body for any irregular pulses of energy. Then she would convert the numerals of joules into watts, because she could read that better. She checked and frowned. "Still going up. Three thou—Four _thousand_?"

Gumball grinned from ear to ear. Like a human. Because if not... those ears are on top of his head, how can he get the sides of his mouth to stretch that much? "Hah! You see? I _have_ infinite—"

DING! "Huh, seven thousand megawatts. I have to say, that's a lot of power you have there. Higher than the average person by over a thousand fold. At least..." Her lips formed a grin, "...it's not so infinite now, is it?"

Feeling ashamed that he was defeated by his sister, his demoralized self took control. "Well, can I get there with just teleportation?" Gumball asked, crossing his arms, feeling beat.

"I dunno." she answered, "I don't even know how much energy you use to teleport here. I don't have a comparison to know how much it will take to get there."

The cat scratched his chin, pacing in the small room, before snapping his fingers. He turned to them with a solemn face, showing that he wasn't aboard his own plan. "It's gonna be a long shot, but I'm sure teleporting there is no biggie. I'll just make a span of small jumps in the long run." Gumball said.

"There might be another way..." the bunny informed, starting her next sentence in a mocking tone. "_It's gonna be a long shot_, but I was working on a teleporter. I think you could create enough energy to make it work and teleport us there."

The cat arched a brow, "Us?"

"You bring us and I'll let you use my teleporter." she crossed her arms, making a standoff, while she was sitting. The pair weren't about to give in with their serious stares, but one didn't feel enough energy to continue.

He sighed, closing his eyes tiredly. "_Fine_."

"Yay!" Anais exclaimed.

Darwin yipped, "_Another_ trip! But... what about Mrs. Mom and Mr. Dad?"

* * *

><p><span>Ten hours later...<span>

After having their sleep, the trio were in Anais' room. There were some difficulties, since Gumball wasn't supposed to be there and the hospital rang. They said that he was kidnapped by a ghost, which was sort of true. The blue cat begged them not to tell, and Darwin and Anais nodded to his pleas. They kept Gumball being there as a secret, however... how was he going to tell them he was fine? Meh, he'll figure it out later. As of now, Anais was working on the machine, while Gumball was standing on a makeshift platform. Said makeshift platform was made of cardboard.

Gumball watched as Anais did the wiring for the teleporter. "We good?"

She sighed as she plugged in the red wire into the socket. "No," The bunny then took a homemade hologram computer and typed into it. "Just have to do some programming, then..." She pressed a button, and the green light acting as a computer vanished. "...there!"

"So... we're good?" the cat asked, crossing his arms as a sign of impatience. "Ready to go? All set?" He smirked, "...shotgun?"

Darwin whistled to get their attention. "What about Mrs. Mom and Mr. Dad?"

Gumball walked to him and squeezed his shoulders. He took a deep breath like he was going to say something meaningful. Then, he made out his words after careful thinking. "They don't need to know. Because I got it in control." He paused for a second, before pointing at Anais. "I mean, she's got it under control."

"Okay, Gumball, I need you to stand on the platform..." she ordered, and in no time the cat jumped onto the carboard, crumpling it a bit, and waited. "...and transfer your energy," she pulled out an energy transactor, wherever she got it from, and placed it into his hand. It looked like a pen but without the features of one. "Giving energy to that will transfer power through electromagnetic signals, enabling us to get a frequency wave that can alter our molecules. We will be disintegrating ourselves—"

"Wait, what?!" Both boys demanded.

"—and recreating ourselves in the desired location." she glanced at them and clicked her tongue. "Even though I say these things in their basic forms, I've only dumbed down the steps so you wouldn't hear me rant for another hour."

Gumball smiled sincerely at her. "Nice, so..." He stared at the metallic pen, which was mirroring light. He could see his reflection in it, but it was in a lighter shade. Actually, his reflection was the only thing lighter, others were darker in his perspective. His pupils glowed, white smoke-like vapor trailing into the air.

BEEEP! BEEEP! Anais and Darwin were surprised when they heard that. Anais because she didn't think the time it would take to fill it up with energy would be so short. Darwin because he just didn't expect it. The child prodigy told the cat, "It's done."

Gumball looked up, eyes returning to black. His mouth was hanging open by a bit, astonished. "How... did I do that?"

"I thought you knew!" Anais replied. Gumball's mouth opened then closed, unable to find a remark. "Nevermind! Uh, let's get to the teleporter then."

Darwin walked onto the makeshift platform with Gumball. "Dude, you're... getting stranger."

Anais followed, "You said it."

The bunny pressed a button, and the machine whirred to life. It made a low humming noise as it began its first job: teleporting three kids more than a hundred miles away. Anais gulped, as Darwin began to sweat. Gumball stood calmly, but his fingers were scratching at the strap of his new Umbrella sheath. Their clothes and bodies were illuminated with white light, as their figures began to waver. Light spectrums began to shine through them, like they were turning invisible. At last, they were turning into smoke-like fumes, before completely disappearing, leaving the whole room shaken with their vanishing.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well, well, well, it looks like we're going somewhere! To the museum~! ****Also, exposition! Just what everyone needed. It's so awkward though. Writing it seemed so unnatural. I had to add stuff in the upper half, and the other half felt so... strange. I can't picture Gumball, Anais and Darwin having a convo with the three of them giving their thoughts.**

**...until I realized everyone is OOC. So, yeah, I'll be working on that, but seeing how the story progresses, these are their personalities for the meantime.**

**Also, I have _no_ idea why I named the chapter that.**

**Anyway... sayonara? **_(wait, that's Japanese?)_


	5. The Umbrella: Fight, Heal, Repeat

**The Umbrella**

**Chapter 5: _Fight, Heal, Repeat_**

* * *

><p>"I will never get used to that." the goldfish said.<p>

"At least we bypassed security..." The tone in Anais' voice went darker. "...and lived."

"All thanks to me!" Gumball exclaimed proudly, pointing his thumbs at himself. "Now, to find the Infinite Cosmos..." He turned and saw a banner that had printed out the words 'Infinite Cosmos', and pointed at the hallway. He made a puzzled face at the poster, "Where is it?"

Shocked and raising an eyebrow, Anais' voice went to higher pitch, but her voice was at the same volume. In other words, she was fake screaming. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Of course he is." Darwin replied, "He's blind if he isn't."

Gumball kept staring at the banner, squinting at it even, before turning to them. "I think it says that we should go the opposite direction."

"Okay okay," Anais began, pulling on his arm. "I know you're dumb, but come on! You're not _that_ dumb."

"I know," he said, "I just wanted to look around." His eyes lingered over to the knight section, but they thought he was just fooling around. And yes, his sight became hazy, blurring and fading with each second. He couldn't read the banner properly, and couldn't deduce their faces. It felt like he was on a boat ship and having nausea. He shut his eyes, trying to focus. He did that energy transfer, and it was boggling his mind. "Yeah... I just want to look around."

"So, you want to go to the medieval section or are we going to the Infinite Cosmos?" Darwin asked, walking to his side. He could pick up hints that the cat was getting drowsy, but he ignored it because he sounded all right.

"The Infinite Cosmos." he answered, putting a finger in the air. He was going to point at its direction, but he didn't know where. He could guess, but chances are, he's going to make a fool out of himself.

"Well, let's go." Anais pulled her brother towards the hallway. Darwin was following, but he was behind the group, looking for anything suspicious.

"We're going, right?" Gumball blinked a couple times, seeing everything clear for half a second, then it became watery and space-like, with every picture he saw swirling in his head.

He accidentally bumped into something, but luckily the reply he got was: "Free water?"

"Uh... yes please." the cat said, seeing someone holding a tray of water bottles. He took one and proceeded to go into the general direction, with Darwin patting him forward.

Gumball took a swig out of the free water bottle. "Ah! I love it when water has no taste. So refreshing and not so forced." His vision returned with the remark, everything seeming to to get less disruptive. He could see clearly now, what just happened? Was it staying at some sort of energy level? Or keeping his stamina? Both were the same questions though.

"What's different about this water and the one we drink?" Anais asked.

"Water back in Elmore tastes like it came from the toilet and the sewers." the cat replied.

"_Oh_ right... I forgot." she admitted, eyeing the older brothers. "Both of you got sucked into the sewers because of the secret."

"What secret?" Gumball asked innocently.

"I-It's nothing." Darwin quickly covered.

The blue cat took another gulp of water, "You mean the viral internet video?" Anais and Darwin twitched the instant they heard it. "I'm not that slow or dumb. It was _so_ popular it stayed on the front page of the site. How can you think that I did _not_ see that? I frequent there!"

"Then, why didn't you say anything?" Anais inquired, thinking back at the week they 'accidentally' posted the video.

"I thought you knew that _I_ knew!" he replied, "I was thinking you two were so guilty about it that you tried to keep it a secret. The effort was sweet of you two." He took another sip. "But to be honest, I was _really_ angry that time."

Darwin tapped his shoulder. "How many people do you think are here that saw the video?"

The cat looked around, glancing at each person's face. They looked away when they saw him looking at them, so he knew the answer. "I already see them looking at me."

"Well, here we are." Anais said, stopping. Gumball and Darwin paused, taking in their surroundings. The room wasn't crowded, which was surprising since this was _the_ Infinite Cosmos. They probably think it's fake, and think: if it is what they say it is... why put it out for views? People could easily take it, so it must be a fake. This kind of thinking was used for about most of the people, and only one was sure of the relic's powers. Anais and Darwin... not so much.

These scientist used reverse psychology without them knowing. Even if someone knew, who were they to know how much power they could absorb before exploding with magical energy? They can't steal this by hand, they'll destroy themselves in seconds. This relic can't be moved by the ordinary, but ones with power, like Ree or Gumball, may be able to last for a few more seconds.

The Infinite Cosmos sat in its throne, a red cushion, and was being displayed for the whole world. This could be a fake, and scientists are still experimenting on it. There were so many things they could do with this, but they decided to leave this here and give up. Or they've finished their research, and the databanks were with Ree. Gumball looked through the glass, which was thicker than he realized, and saw the ancient artifact gleaming under the light.

"What are we going to do now?" Darwin asked, feeling as if the mission was over. They visited the thing, which could be ticked off on Gumball's to-do list. Was there some other plan he wasn't aware of?

Anais studied it carefully, every detail and mark it had. She didn't know what could be held in that gray mineral, but it looked like a few gems were implanted on some space rock. There were three green gems that she could see, and some were hiding underneath. To her reasoning, it must be one large gem that had been covered in the remains of an asteroid. Why it stuck to the crystal after all the experimenting was unbeknownst to her, she never knew it existed till now.

Gumball's onyx eyes contemplated at the stone, never blinking. He looked past his reflection on the glass, and gazed at the Infinite Cosmos. He had no memory of this thing, but he felt an eerie sense of déjà vu. He had been here before, he saw this happening before, but how? To be connected with that thing, he must have placed a finger on it. How did he get through the glass? His hand unknowingly touched the transparent container, his fingers making marks on it. The sirens never blared, what could a touch to the glass prism do?

* * *

><p><span>In the air, over their heads...<span>

Ree felt like crap. He slipped and gave info to a kid, who in turn escaped him a couple of times. The cat was getting better, soon even _he_ won't be a match for the blue cat. Gumball could easily wipe the floor with him. Where was he? He told him about the Infinite Cosmos, and he should be curious. After thinking for hours, he could only think of the museum to be his destination.

His fingers were wrapped around the steering wheel, eyes on the skies. He couldn't wait to get his stupid pilot helmet off, his ears felt like they were being microwaved. He stole a jet, but he liked to think of it as borrowed. He knew how to fly one, those guys at the carrier didn't need to be worried. He could handle this plane easily. The coordinates for the museum were a blur to him, but he knew where it was by memory. It was somewhere in the country, and the nearest places would be a tall tower. If he can spot that tall tower, then he knew where it was.

His eyes concentrated on the clouds that were shooting past him, he was going at supersonic. To others the small jet would be gone the second they saw it, and they would hear a loud noise made by the sonic booms. At the speed he was going, his back was strapped to the chair involuntarily, and every cloud had gone by in a second. He sat in the leather chair, focused on not falling. He would need big luck and one giant recovery if he slipped. One nose dive in the air, and he would need to do some epic manuevers to get back in the air.

He sighed. There was nothing to do here but wait. He needed to be patient for the tower. If the tower was there, then so will the museum—

"There! The tower!" he muttered, eyes dilating. He zoomed straight for it, and circled it for a few times, before soaring into the sky. His small jet had gone into the position where it would fall and crash into the part of the museum where the Infinite Cosmos was held. If the plane fell now, and reached terminal velocity, there would be no telling how much force and damage could be done to the museum. He could see the clouds going past him, then for a while, they gradually stopped moving. He was ready to push the eject button...

* * *

><p><span>In the museum...<span>

Gumball felt an ominous sense of distress, and so did the other two. People have left, gone and vanished, and they were the only ones left in that part of the museum. The Infinite Cosmos seemed to be a lame artifact to the people, as it did nothing whatsoever but sit on the red cushion. But to them, this was something that caused a major part of destruction to Gumball's life, in some way. It made him carry an Umbrella and become a hospital's little ghost mystery. Pushing him forwards by sending in this assassin, distorting his sense of reality, forcing him out of a coma, and pushing him to his unknown limits.

VRROOOM! The sounds of a plane coming by. The three ignored, thinking it was a daily occurrence. The noise still startled them, it was loud and unnerving. It was going round and round somewhere, then it stopped. Above them.

The three waited, using a part of their life watching a still object. Anais' eyes widened, shock and fear taking her. Realizing something, she shouted at her brother. "Gumball! We should go!"

Darwin and Anais felt the need to stay with him. Until he gets out with them, they's always be by his side. They were getting scared by the moment, death was crawling onto them. The thought they were going to die at any instant by now made them think differently, rethinking all the stupid things they've done, they could've died all those times.

Gumball had a distorted sense of reality, as everything he was seeing could be a dream or some different reality. His mind began to process in superspeed, and he knew what was gonna happen. Real or not, this was his action. The cat took his Umbrella out and opened it in half a second. His instincts took over, telling him to protect his family. He couldn't think of anything else, they were too slow to run away before the plane hits them. The Umbrella should be able to absorb the amount of impact from the damage, and everything that jet's got. He pulled the two under his Umbrella, and...

CRASHK! VRROOSH! BZEEUM!

...felt a tremendous weight and pressure shooting through his arms. He felt the strain, the intense weight of the debris. His Umbrella got heavier as it was under the weight of a lot of stuff, that he could no longer hold it up. He let it lower, the handle part touching the ground. Anais and Darwin had stayed as low to the ground as possible, and covered their heads. Gumball could feel his arms and back straining from the amount of force that was pushed down. His muscles were in pain, telling him to never do that again.

They could hear the sizzles of fire, the cracking of wood, and wires getting snapped. They could hear sparks of electricity going on continuously up there, probably from the broken wires. The cat's siblings were taking deep breaths, and were shaking with fear. Gumball leaned back at the debris that covered them, and luckily, no one was injured. The concrete ceiling had now been destroyed, and he knew this from the debris that covered them. He could see the designs they had and they were similar to the ceiling.

Their hearts were still beating though, that's a good sign.

"Are... we alive?" Anais whimpered sadly, tears in her eyes. Gumball glanced at both of them, before remembering that none of them had his cat-like abilities. He could see in the dark if he wanted to. It was like some kind of mode he could use if he wanted.

"Yes, we're alive." Gumball reassured, rubbing her back. He looked at Darwin and found him struggling to believe what just happened. "We're going to need to get out right now. I think we're losing air." he said, "So, I need your guys' help to lift this Umbrella with me."

"T-Tilt the umbrella in an angle. It-It could slip off debris." Anais murmured, wiping her eyes.

Darwin was silent, but he still volunteered to help. He and Gumball held the Umbrella, and pushed it up, also turning it to push off large substances. The cat and the goldfish were doing some progress, but Gumball concentrated and brought more energy into it. When they got momentum going on, the broken plane materials and the ceiling fell off, and the Umbrella wasn't scratched.

"We're out... We're out!" Gumball shouted, even though the first time he said it they could hear him properly. _There must be someone that had planned this. There's no one out there that wants to kill me this badly, except for Ree. And he's insane enough to dig up my corpse to kill me again!_ He thought and turned to the two. "You two get out of here. I've got the feeling someone's coming."

"No!" Anais screamed, clutching onto his arm. Her near-death experience had made her think things through, traumatizing her. "When you said that, next thing we knew you got stabbed and stayed in a coma! We just got hit by a plane! Things could get worse!"

Darwin sympathetically nodded, being silent throughout the situation.

Frantically, he glanced at the two, instead of hoping to see them get over it, he was seeing sadness in their eyes. He crouched down to his baby sister, who he just remembered was just four, and looked her straight in the eyes. "I'll promise to come back to the family. Okay?" He kissed her forehead to make her believe him. "We're going to be okay." He turned to his adoptive brother. "Darwin?"

The goldfish stared at him worriedly. The two could see each other's emotions in their eyes, and Gumball's eyes said to help their sister. He repeated the words he said in his mind, and made his decision. "Anais?" Darwin called, "Gumball needs to do this. And we're just going to be in the way if we stay."

The bunny nodded, and the two left the place.

Gumball stood in the middle of the chaos, his determination and motivation growing significantly. He had a promise to keep now, to stay alive and come back, unscathed. His hand gripped the Umbrella harder, increasing his vigilance by tenfold. His eyes showed new fire behind them, a rage burning fiercely, all directed for one person. He watched as the small fires were flowing in the air, before dying down into nothingness. That would be his enemy.

He saw the cracked concrete and the broken fighter plane, he looked up and saw the hole that should be there. It was a giant opening to the sky, letting sunlight into the room. There in the air, was a lone yellow spec, which seems to be growing.

BLAM! The metal of the plane was bent into a shallow crater, and an explosion of dust and rock threw the materials up, before letting them fall. Gumball glared, watching as Ree stood up from a crounching position, obviously unharmed from the fall. The golden cat gave a smile, but it was hidden under his mask. The two stood around for awhile, not revealing their weapons for the moment. But it was obvious for what they would pick for this battle.

The blue cat stayed silent, rage inducing him.

Ree smirked with a glare, eyes dilating as his pupils shrunk.

"I present to you—the greatest challenge yet."

* * *

><p><span>In a haunted house...<span>

Zeta felt his helmet being tapped on. "Hey, metalhead, wake up."

He groaned as he stood up, feeling rigid as he was only sleeping in the far corner of the living room. She didn't let him sleep on the couch, because she said it was payback for calling her a retard. Even though he apologized and gave reasons that he was wounded, she didn't let up (which made him think she didn't want the sofa to smell like him), and he just slept in the corner. He scratched his head, but found none other than metal that his fingers were brushing through.

"Okay, so, what now?" he asked, wanting to rub his eyes. Since Carrie was there, and he didn't want to show himself, he let the helmet stay. He had his leather jacket tied around his waist, which was no longer bleeding from some kind of 'healing' power. He had a sweater, which was strangely Gumball's sweater. The ghost didn't notice this, and thought it was just a popular brand... _if_ a sewer could possibly be a brand.

She looked at him in confusion. "You don't remember your _grand_ plan?"

Unable to scratch his head, he scratched his neck. "Frankly, no."

"Okay..." she put her nub on her mouth, trying to make a name for him. "Um, _metalhead_."

"Zeta." he corrected.

"That's a _terrible_ name. Metalhead's better." she remarked. "Okay, your plan was to teleport to the International Museum, which is a hundred miles away, and intercept Ree, who I still don't know who he is."

"You don't need to know." Zeta replied, untying his jacket. "We're just gonna... _Oh_ crap." He slid his leather jacket on and took his old Umbrella. "Hurry, make the teleportation jump. We don't have much time."

The ghostly girl narrowed her eyes at him. "Hold on. What's going on?"

"Gumball's there. Ree's there. They're both in a standoff." the helmet guy explained, "Come on! Make the jump!"

She smirked, "Oh, great metalhead, why of course I'll make the jump. Myself."

He pointed a finger at her, "You..." He trailed away, unable to make a retort. "You... witch!"

"Oh-hohoho, nice one! Oh, another reason to your great skill of name calling. Look at you, naming yourself like you're some kind of special person." she mocked, "Zeta. That's the sixth letter of the Greek alphabet, you moron."

He couldn't believe what was happening. He was arguing when he should be somewhere else. "It's also the sixth star constellation." he added, trying to make it sound cool.

"Right," she nodded, "_Lame_."

"Oh, what made you the queen of naming?" he snapped, "You're a corpse!"

"And you think calling yourself Zeta would be cool. It doesn't even relate to you in any way. Metalhead sounds better, and it gives a certain ring to it: you literally wear a metal helmet in your sleep!" the ghost said, making great arguments.

"There is a war going on a hundred miles away." Zeta pointed out, "We're going now."

"You just want to change the subject." Carrie retorted.

_How did she get emotions?! She's a ghost!_ He thought.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yep, that's it folks. I felt as if I could've added more on some parts, but I ran out of things to say... Oh well.**

**See you in the next chapt—BZZTSHHCH**

* * *

><p><em>One fatal attack.<em>

Gumball opened his Umbrella and struck it onto the ground, creating a crack on the marble floor. His indestructible weapon dug through easily, and he hopped on to the underside of the metal canopy. His eyes turned orange, and he concentrated. Ree stepped back, and put on a defensive stance, ready to do whatever needs be done to defend against what he was doing. The cat was standing in the Umbrella like it was a surfboard, and he had his right arm on the handle.

SH-BOOM!

An explosion of energy showed up under Gumball's feet, which was under the Umbrella. The weapon shielded all the impact, but the force was great enough for him to blast forwards, and use the Umbrella as a skateboard. He had no experience in this, but he was halfway to his destination, and building speed.

SBLAM!

Another explosion commenced, and this was just under the Umbrella in that instant. With proper timing, Gumball had made it so his Umbrella was pushed upwards by the amount of force that an explosion gave, which gave him the advantage of altitude. With both speed and aerial advantages with him, he twisted the Umbrella over his head, closed it, and held it in his two hands.

The wind brushed past his face, as he was dropping to the ground with more speed, and every real second felt like a minute to Gumball. This was supposed to be happening in a moment, yet it was taking some time to finish. He redoubled his efforts and pushed the Umbrella in a swipe downwards, and struck for any part of Ree's body. The golden cat couldn't comprehend what had happened, since all this happened in an _instant_.

CRA_ACK!_

The noise of bones snapping went by with a short, awful yell of pain. The golden cat twitched, his nerves sending feedback to the brain, telling him that his arm wasn't supposed to be that way. His teeth clenched, holding back cries of humiliation. He recoiled, grasping his right arm, and stepping backwards. He couldn't feel after awhile, knowing his broken arm was now damaged. He didn't know if it was permanent or temporary, but it wouldn't matter in this battle.

Either way, one of them will get out of this. He wasn't _sure_ about _Gumball_. He was gonna win this, even if his arm was broken.

Light was seeping through his mask, and he tore it away with his other arm, showing his glowing eyes with an unburned face. He had already healed from it, using the omnipotent powers of the bending reality stone. Which was lying around the museum... _wait._

Gumball glared. "Are you thinking about how it came to _this_? Well, it's simple. I'm no longer holding back."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hah, the fight has begun, and it seems an angry Gumball is winning! But who will come out on top? Gumball or Ree, the fight that nobody thought of pairing because Ree was just made up, who will be the victor?**

**I'm probably gonna redo the chapter names. They're silly.**

**Fun fact: Ree's real name is Raymond Ethan Venj. Let's see if you can find the pun.**


	6. The Umbrella: Bring End Unto Them

**The Umbrella**

**Chapter 6: _Bring End Unto Them_**

* * *

><p>Gumball's white eyes were filled with big orange dots that acted as his pupils. His inferno-type attacks would continue, using bursts of power to edge himself with the advatage of speed, power and efficiency. Using these waves of mental energy could allow him to speed up, bring even more damage to his attacks, and with that, it was efficient. Thrusting his weapon into the opponent would make a great fatal blow, and in this case, he broke the enemy's right arm.<p>

It was silent. No word had been made between the two, as both had different colors fuming out of their eyes. They could choose to conceal it, but the more intimidating way was used as both knew what the other would do.

Ree cradled his arm. He hadn't made a move to attack yet, and he hadn't brought out his tools of agony from his arsenal. Not yet, and it didn't seem he was going for that approach. There wasn't a single drop of blood to be shed, yet there was pain and anguish written on his face. Suddenly, he gripped his arm tight, and twisted it, successfully making it pop into place.

Gumball staggered back, cringing after watching that swift, painful movement. He stared in awe as he saw Ree moving his recently fixed arm about, like it hadn't encountered any suffering. He looked back at Gumball, and left his old frown on his face, replacing that crazy smile. The blue cat tensed, slightly raising his Umbrella.

"No holding back, eh?" Ree pulled back the barrel of his gauntlets, letting each blade strike out with a glimmer. "I suppose we could stop playing games."

Gumball's eyes narrowed, an angry expression had landed on his face. He scowled, "After breaking your arm, you don't seem very... challenging."

The golden cat smiled, "Oh, but you're forgetting." He charged, whizzing his blades at his face. "The fight never started."

CLANG! Gumball's Umbrella had intercepted the attack, successully blocking both strikes at once. He pulled back his weapon and pushed it out to give more running power, and Ree clashed his swords together to catch the Umbrella, before it could stab him in the face. With both hands on his Umbrella, the cat opened it up to break the hold and used the shield as a weapon. Ree darted upwards, and Gumball leapt for it, smacking into him mid-jump and launching him into the tallest pile of debris. The golden cat swiftly caught himself, doing backflips and ending up on the top of the tall, narrow wreckage.

Before landing, Gumball forced his open Umbrella downwards, and stood in it. His eyes were orange, and the sizzling of fires were the only thing in his mind. Once his Umbrella touched the ground, he set off an explosion right under it, propelling him upwards and at Ree. The golden cat aimed one of his twin blades at the incoming cat, and shot one out like a gun. The silver metal zoomed an inch beside Gumball's face, making a cut from air pressure, while he got to the golden cat and closed his Umbrella.

On the narrow platform, the two swung their one weapon at each other, trying to get the upper hand in battle. Gumball was getting used to it, gradually getting better and efficient with his tool of destruction. Ree could see the rage in his eyes, the drive in him that makes him push himself even better than before, it was making him harder to kill. Gumball was fighting like a master, but simultaneously making amateur mistakes as he was blinded with fury. The blue cat had a reason to get mad at him. He almost killed him and his siblings with that little expedition.

Metal clashed, as sparks flew by, making distractions that both were unaware of. Gumball could flip the tables, but he thought it would persuade his opponent to use the same tricks, and he didn't want to face the imagination Ree could possibly have. The golden cat had experience, he knew he was doing this for a long time, as evident when he knew _all_ that was happening. He knew of him and the Infinite Cosmos, when even _he_ didn't know about. He was able to tap into his dreams, turn it into a warning, and help him find his weapon.

The pair were moving in circles, dodging with wisdom or fear and attacking at the same time. As Ree only had one blade since he shot out the other one, he was evenly matched with the cat in a one-on-one situation. Gumball hadn't opened his weapon to block, which was an improvement as it could give him an advantage of not risking it. But then, a sword-like stature could give good defense when used properly. Each swing was a risk to lose your defense, and make an attack, but both were doing fifty-fifty. They made moves to block and damage simultaneously to lessen the risk of getting hit.

With each move, Gumball would occasionally spin while walking in a circle, to get more momentum with his hits. Ree didn't need to do that, since he was naturally faster and stronger, and more enduring. Their parries stopped when Ree leaned forward after making a counter, grabbed Gumball by the head, and threw him off the tower. The blue cat tumbled as he was dangerously close to the broken floor, but opened his Umbrella. Too bad he was already on the lowest level of the ground when he did it. He fell flat on his face, before making amazing recovery time and flipped back up. Ree jumped off, following the blue cat.

* * *

><p><span>Outside...<span>

FWOOSH!

Blue light encased the ghost and the metalhead, before it dispersed outwards. The teleportation of necromantic energy left a sour taste in Zeta's mouth. He wasn't used to feeling the cold, deathly hallows of Carrie's teleportation. The feeling of getting sucked into an unnatural realm, then jumping into hyperspace-like speed to the destination, then getting pushed out spiritually made him shudder.

"What? Not used to teleporting?" Carrie asked, smirking.

"I expected a souvenir shop." Zeta replied sarcastically.

"As always," the ghost crossed her arms. "You don't like our ghostly terrain, do you?"

"It's cold." he responded with a dry tone. "Come on, he's he—..." He saw two people getting out of the museum, and they looked _very_ similar. "...I mean, _they're_ here."

"Who?" Carrie looked at his direction. "Oh."

Darwin and Anais were solemn. It was the only way to describe their emotion through their faces. Zeta walked after them, with Carrie floating behind. There was gonna be one long explanation for this 'coincidental' appearance. Walking up the stairs to the museum, they were content on why the two were sitting on the stairs. The bunny and the goldfish seemed to be talking to the air, having a convo without eye contact.

"I'm not leaving without him." Anais said.

"Well, me neither." Darwin whispered.

"Oh, hey guys!" Carrie greeted, throwing the metalhead off his stealthy move.

Anais and Darwin went wide-eyed, finding their _friend_ a few hundred miles away from where they normally reside. Darwin spoke up, "Carrie? What are _you_ doing here?"

Carrie started comically, "Oh, I was just..."

"...in the neighborhood." Zeta finished for her, having his arms crossed. "I'm Zeta, a friend she was visiting." He held out a hand to them, but they felt distrust in him. First, he wore a helmet, second, he had some kind of sword strapped to his back.

The ghost stared at him bewilderedly, while he just made a helmet movement to tell her to roll with it. She huffed and looked away. Darwin shook his hand with his flipper, "Zeta's... a weird name."

"He named himself." Carrie added humorously, turning to them. She glanced at the helmet guy. "So, metalhead, what're we gonna do now?"

_With Gumball's siblings here, I can't just get into the museum, they know and they'd stop me. So much for insight._ Zeta thought, his dark expression showing through his gray helmet. He glanced at the large pilars of the museum, then looking at them. "I think we should tell someone with authority about the museum. I don't hear any alarms."

RIII_IIING!_

"Oh," Zeta sighed, "There it is."

* * *

><p><span>Inside...<span>

CLANK!

Two weapons faced off again, metal against mettle. Both at their fullest, they were disastrous, but they held back their powers to make it fair. If one of them makes the first move with powers, then the other would do the same, and thus, no fair fight. Gumball's weapon clashed again, trying to parry moves. He had a chance to strike again, but it went away as Ree was back at it, slashing his sword at him. He blocked, and threw the sword out of his way.

Wordlessly, the two leapt away from each other, creating space between them to catch their breath. They took some time to recuperate, before Gumball eagerly charged into the fray, Umbrella propped to aim for the head. Ree went forward a second before him, pulling him sword arm back to make a punch. Gumball switched his attack strategy, and made it so that he could ward off the incoming attack. Ree did a punch, and Gumball made a swing.

SCH-TIING! Both struck at the same time, using their full force. Gumball's unwavering weapon was bending the blade, before it—SCRAT!—broke. What was now left was a half sword that can no longer be effectively used. The golden cat took the broken blade and threw it out of his gauntlet. Ree's arsenal was getting low, but he still had one more trick up his sleeve.

The golden cat rolled to a side, ducking under a swift kick from Gumball. He did a flip to get back up, and put his fists to his side. "You know, we all have those kinds of weapons." he said, directing his focus on the Umbrella. Gumball glanced at the weapon by his side, before looking back. "I have one too." Ree looked at a pile of debris, then crouched down. He pulled out a chunk of concrete, and revealed a sniper rifle. "They're magical, being able to come around when you want it to."

He pulled the weapon out of the hole, and dusted it. Gumball put on a stance, Umbrella in position. Ree held the rifle in his hands for awhile, then he pulled the butt of the rifle out, showing the tip of a silver blade. He pushed the end tip of the rifle into its barrel, and the sword sprang out on the end of it. He flipped the trigger part around and placed the butt or handle on the otherside. He cocked the gun, and a bullet shell flew out.

Ree swayed the sniper-sword in a circle, and pulled the trigger, sending the force of a shot out from the opposite side of the blade, which pushes it forward. His weapon looked like a sword with a black bulky handle, which had a trigger on one side and an ammo patch on the other.

The two tensed with their weapons. Ree's finger was on the trigger, itching to press. "Now, the real battle begins."

* * *

><p><span>Outside...<span>

"Hey, you know what I feel like doing?"

Zeta sighed, "What?"

"Talking." the ghost replied, "I haven't talked to anyone in a _long_ while—" there was a scuffling noise, and Zeta disappeared off to the top of the fourth flight of stairs. Which was also the second last flight of stairs till the museum. "—Hey! Come on! I just wanted to say dumb things like conspiracies and what you people like to talk about!"

"That was so last century!" Zeta shouted back.

"Aw, you freaking hipster!" Carrie called.

Noting the less brooding look on her, the metalhead just turned back to look at the museum. The spirit huffed, and inwardly counted how many times she's listened to that guy's orders. Probably over a few hundred. And kind of exaggerating. She noticed the gloominess of others, and just so happen to find herself in her own happy place. Seeing someone else miserable cheered her up. She glanced at the two Watterson siblings, and she felt relatable to see them sad.

A question appeared in Carrie's mind. "How did you three get here?"

"Teleporter." Anais answered depressingly.

"Oh," the ghost could only say. She looked around. "Where is it?"

"Back at home." she replied, pulling out a device. "I have the switch to teleport my brothers and I, but since Gumball's staying, we're not going anywhere."

Zeta glanced at the three, before contemplating back at the museum. He stood there, arms crossed. He could see some smoke coming from the Infinite Cosmos department, and the tape that was getting stretched by the police. One of them came to him and told him, "Sir, please stand back, this is damaged property."

"I know." the metalhead said, his voice sounding threatening.

* * *

><p><span>Inside...<span>

BLAM!

Bullets were shot, and with the force of a sniper rifle, it pushed the blade forward, aiming at Gumball. Frantically, he opened the Umbrella as he had no experience with this. The sword struck off the canopy, and another shot was heard, and the sword was banging against the Umbrella. Gumball's feet gave way, inching backwards with each shot. Ree's finger was at the trigger, pressing it once his sword bounced off. Timing it, Gumball found he could move away and strike. Once the sword bounced off, he closed the Umbrella and jumped off simultaneously, flipping in the air. Ree pressed the trigger again, but the sword was only attacking the thin air.

Gumball landed behind him and attacked, landing a painfully sharp Umbrella into his armor. The small of his back was already crumpled, because yesterday had been the day Ree got attacked by Zeta, and he struck him in the back enough times for the metal plating to give in. The tip of the Umbrella pierced through, but Gumball instantly took it back, and spun, gaining momentum to smash his Umbrella into Ree's waist. But the golden cat shot a bullet out, forcing his sword in a circle, and intercepting the smash. With the force of the shot, it pushed Gumball back as the momentum was carried into him.

The cat pulled the Umbrella open, and backflipped with it as a landing pad. He set a wave of explosive energy upwards, floating him in the air. Fires of orange had dispersed around his Umbrella, then vanishing in an instant. He was back in an aerial advantage, till Ree went into position and pulled the trigger, sending himself skyrocketing at him. The two cats prepared their weapons against each other, Gumball closing his Umbrella and Ree aiming his sword to make a direct shot.

When in proximity, Gumball lashed out his weapon. Ree fired a bullet, sending a force of inertia back to him, and sending him straight for the blue one. Their incredible tools struck each other; Gumball stabbing Ree in the shoulder, while Ree made a small cut on Gumball's cheek, because the latter swayed his head to dodge.

They kicked at each other, sending themselves in pain and forcing the other to land harshly on the broken marble ground. While falling, Gumball opened his Umbrella, while Ree shot again, sending him upward. The blue cat landed gently, while Ree made consecutive shots to get to Gumball's position. Using the momentum of bullet shots, Ree decked him in the face with his unarmed hand, then used his Sword-rifle to slash at his body, which only scraped at his clothing. It seemed like armor, though, but with two powerhouses that have some mysterious energy, that same energy could've warped around them as a protective barrier.

Gumball placed his Umbrella behind, positioning it open, and made a small explosion. This forced him forwards, and he shot his leg out to kick. Ree took the brunt of the damage, then positioned the hilt of his sword at Gumball. The latter quickly pulled the Umbrella over his head, and defended himself from the sniper blast, which made quite an impact. Ree stepped over his shield, and shot himself skywards with his Sword-rifle. Gumball left the open Umbrella by his side.

Reaching maximum altitude, which was the ceiling, his feet touched the concrete material, and he crouched, pulling himself down (or up) to the roof with the momentum. He cocked his Sword-rifle, and fired again, aiming the tip of the blade at the ground. With the help of gravity, he was pushed downwards with the forces of nature, as Gumball lifted his Umbrella forwards, made an explosion, sending him backwards. The attack was gonna miss.

Ree made a last second turn, and fired his rifle, a bullet shell flew out as he was sent to another direction with less speed since gravity wasn't on his side anymore. Gumball raised his Umbrella, blocking the attack. The sword slid over the rain-shielder, and Ree ran over the cat's head. Gumball rolled forward, before turning to face the golden cat with a closed Umbrella. Ree held his sword in a way he could shoot Gumball, and he fired.

A spray of bullets were going at supersonic, trying to hit the blue cat.

* * *

><p><span>Outside...<span>

"Sir, you may want to stand back." A couple of policemen warned, as a whole troop armed with guns were coming over to the helmet guy. Zeta looked around, finding himself surrounded by the whole lot of them. His fingers twitched, wanting to take his ole' Umbrella out for a joyride.

"Metalhead," Carrie called, seeing him surrounded by officers.

He could've not listened to her, but he complied, thinking it should compensate for whatever he asked for her. "Fine." He spun on his heels and walked through the police, who were curious to what route he would've taken if that... ghost... hadn't called him.

"See, it wasn't _that_ hard to ignore them." Carrie goaded, smiling as Zeta walked to her.

"I never thought _you_ would say that." he replied, crossing his arms.

"I ignore people and they ignore me." she explained, "Simple as that."

Zeta stared at her for a moment, finding something peculiar. There was just something unusual going on. He just couldn't place it... "You're happy." he stated.

"And you're broody." the spirit poked back. "What's your point?"

"Hmm..." Metalhead placed a hand on the chin of his mask. "You're more open to people that actually spend time with you."

"Hah," she waved at him cheerily, before immediately returning to her sorrowful tone. "Mention that again and you'll never see the light of day."

Zeta smirked under his helmet. "How interesting."

* * *

><p><span>Inside...<span>

Twirling in the air, Gumball aimed his Umbrella behind himself, and boosted his body forward with an explosive. His defenses were strong, absorbing the impact of the explosion and, as Gumball made it with his thoughts, pushed him in the direction of the burst of energy.

Ree rolled out of the way, as Gumball landed at where he was. The golden cat raised his Sword-rifle, aiming the tip of the sniper for his opponent's head. He pressed the trigger, sending a bullet into Gumball's direction. The blue cat barely got out of the way, having the right arm of his sweater cut. Ree dashed forward, slicing the air with his sword. Gumball threw his Umbrella like a boomerang, and it struck Ree's weapon out of his hand. The pair of tools spun in the air, until they struck the ceiling high above them.

Gumball huffed, recovering from the fight. Sweat rolled down his cheek, as he felt the stings of the small flesh wounds he had. Ree balled a fist, glancing at the weapons and at Gumball. He had killed before, without remorse (and without weapons), since he was a trained assassin. A bounty hunter, he called himself.

"Well, I guess you're out of luck. You don't have anything to defend yourself with. But, me..." started Ree, who _loved_ the sound of his voice. "...I know how to fight, to _kill_. You don't know how to use your fists."

"Says the guy who relies on weapons so much that he has an armory full of them." Gumball retorted, assuming since he knew that Ree could use so many weapons.

"That might be true..." He pulled a gun out of his holster. "I forgot I had this." He cocked the pistol, and aimed it at the blue cat. The latter stood up, gritting his teeth. "I never thought it would be like this. No one has gotten to make me to exert myself so much. I'll remember this day."

_You won't. _Gumball thought, his eyes lighting up once more.

BOOM! Fires burst out below the golden cat's boots. Ree's body flew up, as Gumball ran. The fiery orange shock wave sent pulses of energy throughout the room. Gumball jumped onto Ree, using him as a platform, then jumped again, trying to take his Umbrella. Instead, he got Ree's Sword-rifle and latched onto it, before it creaked and he fell. Ree had slid on the ground, debris flying everywhere with the explosion. The blue cat pulled the trigger of the weapon, and sent him flying to Ree's direction.

The golden cat lost his pistol, and he got up, only to find Gumball using his sword at him. The blade was inches from his face, the sharp tip almost touching his nose. Gumball was thinking, to kill or not to kill?

Ree smirked inwardly, knowing the trials of this decision. If Gumball killed him, he'll be like Ree, but with less of a mission. If he doesn't, then Ree would win, and be the one to get out of this alive. Gumball's finger was on the trigger, and if he pulled, it would be over. The thought of him taking his place enlightened the golden cat. He knew how dangerous both of them were, and how much they could destroy this world. No weapon would be a match for them. But deep down, he knew, this kid was a good person. He won't pick the route Ree would pick. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. Now, what was Gumball's decision?

BANG!

* * *

><p><span>Minutes later...<span>

Gumball walked out of the museum, Umbrella on his back. He left the place and the Sword-rifle, the weapion in which had given him a bad feeling. His eyes showed sadness... He would never kill, would he? Every question had an answer, and only time could tell, as it is one of the only things that continuously moves forwards. Every second that was spent, time was used.

He could see his brother and sister, waiting for him. The police never paid attention to the boy that just came out of the wreckage and was possibly in need of medical attention. He could also see some gray guy and... _Wait, is that Carrie? _He asked inwardly. _What's _she_ doing here? Does she know something? Oh no, I think she knows something._

He tried his best to ignore the ghost, but it seemed like she was arguing with the gray guy. Who was that guy anyway? Was it the guy who told Carrie to get him out of the coma? He didn't know. The blue feline walked over to his siblings, who looked depressed as they didn't know what was going on. Their backs were facing the museum, as they sat quietly on the stairs.

"Hey, guys." he called, trying to sound normal.

Shocked at hearing his voice, the two turned to see their brother, who was smiling softly with a few scratches. "GUMBALL!" Both cried, taking the attention of the two 'bystanders'. They had tears in their eyes, as they didn't think they would see their brother again. They got him in a bearhug, which lasted for a few seconds, before the three of them moved away, but were still close. The two younger members of Gumball's family may be injured, but they didn't care. They thought their brother would've died that day.

"Haha, I promised to stay alive." Gumball smirked at himself and to them. "Just a few scratch marks. They'll probably make me feel like dying again in the next few hours."

"Just a few? They're all over you, man!" Darwin nudged, laughing afterwards with his older brother.

Anais just smiled. "You _did_ keep your promise. You're... You're... _responsible_."

"Yeah, whatever you call it." the cat kept smiling uncontrollably, glad to see his kin happy. He heard the sounds of one person walking over to him, but he knew there would be _two_.

"Hello, Gumball." Carrie moaned, being the one who could float.

_How did Gumball get past me? Curse you, Carrie!_ Zeta turned to her. "What happened to all that cheeriness?"

"It got away." she replied, "I don't think anyone here would be comfortable with me being _happy_." Afterwards, the ghost made a smile that weirded out everyone. She ended it, looking at the metalhead. "See? And what happened to _your_ brooding?"

"Heh. You've got a point." Zeta admitted. He turned to Gumball, but he couldn't give any hints of emotion for him. "Well hello, Gumball," he greeted. "I'm Zeta, Carrie's friend and another one of your relations. I'm related to you by the Infinite Cosmos, which just got demolished in that there museum." His head nodded at its direction. "Scientists would come by and take it with special equipment, but until then, I'm gonna have to be with you as an... assistant, I guess you could call. You beat Ree, which I could not—"

"Ugh..." the ghost interrupted. "You never told me you were going to explain formally."

"What?" Zeta inquired, "You want me to go explain it in a braindead way? Hey, I'm Zeta and I want you to come with me and I won't explain details."

"Hey, don't I get a say in this?" Gumball asked. "I'm responsibritory."

"Responsibility?" Darwin guessed.

"Responsible." Anais deduced. "He's got a point. What _are_ you trying to say?"

"Investigation at Ree's place." Zeta said, "Gather information about him and whatever we can scavenge in that place. Sounds like a mission from a general, I know, but I'm curious as to what's Ree's ambition. Want to join me?"

"You should've explained it in that way. Sounds straightforward and _much_ more better for good old Gumball here." Carrie uncharacteristically, but amusingly, joked. It was to hide her emotions to Gumball. The others thought it was progress, but to Zeta, it was insanity.

_Man, what is _wrong_ with her?_ Zeta thought.

"Hm, I'm also curious about Ree. Seemed like a troubled guy... to some level. I'm in." Gumball admitted, while his brain tinkered about the ghost's words. Zeta felt to hold something towards being called 'troubled'. "Hey!" the blue cat exlaimed, "I'm not old!"

Anais pulled a switch out of her orange pocket. "Well, are we ready?"

"Only the three of us could teleport with your invention, but yeah, we're ready." Darwin answered.

Gumball smiled in response, before his face contorted into pure shock. "Wait, how am I gonna explain to mom?!"

"Tell her you tried to come back home after waking up in an alley. Don't explain about anything. Don't explain about Carrie and your coma, make it mysterious like you didn't know. Don't even mention about the fight or your injuries. The Infinite Cosmos has healed you of your battle with Ree from the school, but right now, you'll need time. We could shift the blame of the mysterious occurrences to another ghost since Carrie scared the doctors away in another one of her ghost forms." Zeta covered, "Lying would give either positive or negative results, but in this case, it's better not to tell her the truth. Not just yet. Maybe later."

"Thanks. You're a lifesaver, Zee." Gumball gave a thumbs up, also giving him a nickname. "You aren't _that_ bad." Anais pressed the switch, and they were enveloped with white-blue light, vanishing into thin air the second later. Luckily, no one saw what just happened, and they were thankful for it.

_Why would he give me a name similar to _Ree_?_ The metalhead thought.

"Ready to make the jump?" Carrie asked, her full optimistic mood returning to annoy him.

Zeta sighed, remembering the chill of the void. He glanced at the museum, thinking about the Infinite Cosmos, then looked back at the ghost. "Yep."

* * *

><p><span>The Watterson Residence...<span>

Matter shifted and atoms were reformed. The blinding light took over the room, before the three appeared out of nowhere. The teleporter stopped humming, and the beeps commenced, telling them its energy systems were low. Anais turned it off, and the noise stopped. Gumball and Darwin stood around as their sister worked on the teleporter.

"Those reasons sound legitimate enough." the bunny remarked. "But he forgot about the Umbrella. Take that thing off."

"You hear that Gumball?" Darwin asked. "Anais said legit."

The cat slid the Umbrella off, untying the strap and letting the holster fall to the ground. "Yup, I heard." he replied.

Anais opened up a hologram and live footage of what was happening downstairs was shown. The two were amazed at what the bunny was showing them. First off, she could make more than one hologram. Second of all, she's planted a camera somewhere in the living room without them knowing. And third, this was done by a four year old. But in the recording, were their parents and a person from an organization. This took them by surprise.

"What's that guy doing there?" Gumball asked.

"Wait a minute..." Anais looked closer. "That guy looks exactly like the ones those guys wore that tried to take me in for that test I completed! And by that, I mean he looks like a clipboard! Huh."

"Oh, I didn't see that. I just thought this guy was threatening Mrs. Mom." The goldfish's eyes narrowed. "Oh wait, it looks like Mrs. Mom is threatening _him_."

"As expected..." Anais crossed her arms.

"...well, she's our mom." Gumball finished for her. "Can we hear what they're talking about?"

The bunny took a remote out and pressed one of many buttons. The sound came up, and they heard their mother scream._ "I DON'T CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN GIVE ME OR YOUR CONDOLENCES! I WANT MY SON BACK!"_

"That's my cue." the cat said.

"Good luck." Darwin whispered.

* * *

><p>Being left out, Richard felt scared... and confused. Finding out his son had gone into a coma at such a young age frightened him, finding him being abducted from the hospital scared him to death, but being angry to people that weren't linked to this wasn't him. But he wanted to side with Nicole to become a good father. He didn't think he was doing any progress by staying in the corner.<p>

"We're sorry we couldn't find him." the agent said, clearly scared. His monotone voice was gone and he had begun to speak faster. "Witnesses say a ghost took him, and we people don't hunt ghosts, because that's preposterous. We know you're second-in-command for Project Rainbow, but—"

Angrily, Nicole grabbed the clipboard by the paper, and held him up to her face. "You listen to me, if Gumball gets even a _little_ scratch from anything during this time, you better wish you wrote your will!" she threatened, showing superiority. Her voice lowered as her eyes narrowed. "Do you know what I could do? As second-in-command of Project Rainbow, I could shoot your ass to the moon."

The clipboard started sweating ink, already using it to write on the other parts of paper for his will.

_Project Rainbow? Second-in-command? What's going on here? _Gumball thought, peeking through the stairs. _Oh no, am I dreaming and Ree's messing it up? Nnooo... I hate these things! I can't tell if it's real or fake! I have to ask Anais about this. Or not. If this is fake, I'm probably gonna look like I'm crazy or something. But, eh... I've asked for crazier stuff._

Nicole let go of the clipboard guy, who was trying his best to escape without making it look obvious. The hotheaded mother growled, sending chills up into the clipboard's spine. But even if they didn't have a spine, his plastic or wooden board was making him quiver. "Now, I want you to look for Gumball. Don't tell me that a _ghost_ kidnapped my son who is _in_ a coma. If I don't get what I want, someone is going to have to pay, and _you_ won't be enough..."

The clipboard quickly crawled out of the house, trying to get his legs to run but his fear had made him get close to the ground. He got into his car and slammed the door, whimpering inaudibly as he went away, getting yellow ink all over himself. Nicole shut the door and sighed, the worry marks showing her spiral into depression. She was leaning on the door, sliding to the ground.

_How did she not see me? _Gumball asked himself. _Anyway, if I tell that I'm here, that poor guy's gonna get it because I've got some scratches on me. Dang it, what do I do? _He arched a brow. _I guess, it's every man for himself. In this case, clipboard and cat and all other species._

He walked down the stairs, floors creaking.

"Hey, mom."

His mother's head looked around from the sound of his voice. Tears welled in her eyes, remembering her eldest son. The one that got stabbed, fell into a coma, and got kidnapped in the same day. Now, she heard him. Had she really gone that far? Had she really gotten insane? It was minute after minute of disaster. "Uhh, you must be hallucinating, Nicole." she told herself, covering her eyes with her palms to block out light.

Richard, however, heard the voice, and looked over and found his supposedly dead son standing in front of his wife. He gasped, putting his hands over his mouth. "Gumball?"

The cat glanced at Richard and put a finger to his mouth, signalling for him to keep quiet. Gumball put his hand on his mother's shoulder, and Nicole took her hands off her face, seeing her son standing in front of her. In reply, she put him in a tight embrace. The son was getting choked from the bearhug, but he dealt with it, seeing her smile made him happy.

"Mom, can we not talk about what I've been through?"

Noting her son's mentality, she thought he didn't want to remember about what had happened in the span of that _one_ day. "I'll agree to that."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Ah, this arc is finally finished! I'm off to write this story in a happier tone. So... there _will_ be less blood. ...I think. Oh, and humor? I'm not good with that, but I'll try.**

**Next chapter starts the new saga/arc/season/whatever you'd want to call it. The new title of the Chapters would start with '**_**The Order**_**'. And a new cover! Let's just say, there's a metaphorical order**_ (not really)_** between Gumball and his alter ego, who wants payback for taking, and stealing, his life...**

**...Infinite Cosmos' Second Arc, The Order: **_**Zach's Revenge**_

_(lol, the title is long) _


	7. The Order: Point of no Return

**The Order**

**Chapter 7: _Point of no Return_**

* * *

><p>Gumball took a deep breath, looking over the school. Friends or schoolmates were walking about, all species of different weird kinds. Robots, food, animals, ghosts, shapeshifters, fluffy people, insects, arachnids, dinosaurs, mythological creatures, and so many more categories that mostly one person from the school can fit in. The cat walked through the crowded hallways, till reaching his quiet locker. Only few hang out here, and it's mostly because not a lot of people trust Gumball.<p>

He could see some dents and deep cuts in some of the lockers, remembering his fight with Ree. He opened his and saw a couple books and hanged photos. Stationery were lying around, collecting dust. The cat took notice of the Umbrella that couldn't have possibly fit in there, yet it did, and just stared at it bizarrely. Ree wasn't kidding when he said it would magically appear in places. He just didn't think that his weapon could fit inside a school locker. Then again, he's been squished in it too when it was also physically impossible.

He closed the locker door with a bang and saw someone standing by it. With a brow raised, the cat looked at him confusedly as he didn't know what was going on. Tobias stood there, as if trying to configure something out.

"So... you were in a coma." Tobias pointed out, rather awkwardly.

"Yes," Gumball responded nonchalantly. "And?"

"_And_?" the multicolored ball repeated, putting in as much exaggerated emotion into it. "You were in a coma, and you're standing up right now. Just after the coma."

"That was false." he lied smoothly. But he broke his trustworthy act by adding, "Don't trust the news."

Tobias narrowed his eyes. "Ah-huh..."

* * *

><p><span>Somewhere else in school...<span>

"Where'd you get the knife?"

"From your haunted kitchen."

"How did you turn my kitchen knife into an experimental military-grade weapon?" Carrie demanded in a dry tone, eyeing the silver kitchen knife that had a bionic orange blade for its edge, and also a highly functionable-looking handle that had pulsing crimson energy stored in it.

"Oh, um, uh, aren't you supposed to be at school?" Zeta asked, looking around as he tossed the knife in the air. Sounds of regular school stuff concurred.

The ghost stared at him for a moment, till narrowing her eyes at him. "You're showing off, aren't you? Also, you followed me here."

"Did _not_." he replied, thinking of becoming irritating for a while.

"Then why're you here?" Carrie asked.

The two stood around in silence, before Darwin came up to them. He looked awfully calm for someone like him, which would weird people out since he was friendly and outgoing and would always greet people. Now that he's beginning to trust people less and thinking they could whip out a sword out of nowhere, he stopped himself from doing that because of fear. The only people he trusted had gone down to a number he could actually count. He was going to talk to Carrie, but found Zeta with her. This gave the goldfish some confusion. "Hey, Zeta, what're _you_ doing here?"

"Oh, me? I'm just... uh..." Zeta stopped flipping the knife.

"He was in the neighborhood." Carrie finished for him.

"Hey! That was _my_ line." he replied.

"Well, I don't see your name on it." she retorted, causing Zee to look away in defeat.

"Well, I was coming by to tell you that you are one of the only people that I trust." the goldfish said, gaining their attention. When he saw the metalhead looking at him, he instantly stated, "Sorry, but not you."

Zeta looked down, helmet somehow showing emotion. "Aw..."

"So," Carrie paused, thinking. "You trust me?"

Darwin answered, "Yes—"

"Who do you trust?" the spirit asked.

"Oh, you know, you, Gumball, Anais, Mrs. Mom, Mr. Dad, Tobias, Penny—" Darwin got cut off when he said that last one.

"Wait, you trust that one?" Carrie asked, arching a brow.

"Well, she's Gumball's to-be girlfriend. I think." the goldfish informed, thinking Carrie was jealous.

"No, no. I wasn't asking about Penny. What gave you that idea?" she asked, confused, then turning the subject. "I was asking about Tobias."

"Psh, I think he thinks you're jealous." Zeta whispered. After being left out of the conversation, he was still there, standing around with a lethal knife in his hand. Carrie looked at him as if she had nothing to be jealous about. _Oh, wait, she had that jealousy thing removed. _He thought._ Wait a sec, _could_ you delete _emotion_? What the what?!_

"I consider him a trustworthy friend." Darwin explained, "Gumball doesn't."

"I think I understand." Carrie said.

The three stood around for a moment, until Darwin broke it again. "Hey, remember when you had a father? Why do you have different last names?" he asked, curious.

"Eh, spiritual tradition. Born ghosts' names will end with their gender parent's names. My full name is Carrie Booregard Krueger, and those two other names come from my mom." she sighed, bowing her head down with closed eyes. "Her name is Booregard Krueger. If I had a brother, his name would be something, then Vladus, then—I forgot."

"Wow, I'm learning so much about ghosts." the metalhead mused sarcastically, "Could they still haunt me with my now superior intellect over spirits?"

"Yes. You have no escape." the ghost said, turning to him in a dark manner.

"Why's that?" Darwin asked for Zeta's sake, feeling a bit worried for his not-trustable friend.

Carrie smirked evilly, "Because I'm haunting him."

What was expected was a shriek, but what they got was a reply containing the emotion of absolute unbelieving. Zeta glanced at the two of them, mainly focusing on the ghost. He just couldn't believe after what he'd gone through by just _being_ with her, she still wanted to haunt him. Carrie for his standards was already beyond what he could comprehend, sure she's interesting, but she doesn't tell him anything about it.

"Are you freakin' kidding me?!"

* * *

><p><span>Later...<span>

During school, Gumball had been called to the principal's office for a meeting, and once Gumball came in, Principal Brown was there, sitting calmly. He sighed when Gumball approached one of the seats, and the cat got onto it. It was stressful for the school, a new kid only wanted to enter just to leave immediately, _then_ there was another kid in school with a weaponized knife, and he wasn't even supposed to be there! Now, there was finally silence, and Brown soaked it all in. Gumball, on the other hand, felt the suspense was killing him inside as he didn't want to get suspended.

"So..." Brown started.

Gumball interrupted, snapping for some mysterious reason. "I swear! I didn't do anything! Really this time—"

"I know," the principal said, looking quite calm for a stressed out person, with all the paperwork and such. "It's not about you. It's about your sister."

"Oh," the cat blinked, "Uh, what's happened?" he asked, getting calmer.

"She's been... calling for you." Brown readjusted his glasses. "She started running around in panic when one of our teachers showed a presentation about planes. She locked herself in the janitor's closet and our staff has been trying to get her out. But with her... intellect, she was able to lock everyone out of the door, even though we used the keys. Those _always_ work, but now..." he sighed. "Mr Small tried to talk to her, but she kept saying she wanted see you."

Gumball was quiet during the whole convo, shocked at what her brilliant sister was doing in school. He knew she would never do such a thing, but when he remembered Brown said something about planes, he knew it was about the crash. He looked up at the principal, who was inwardly shocked to see such meaning in the cat's eyes. They were the pleading kind, no signs of recklessness.

"Which closet is she in?"

* * *

><p>"Anais! It's me! Gumball! Could you let me in?" the cat shouted, knocking at the door as he said so.<p>

There was a click, and the door opened itself. He looked back at Rocky, who merely shrugged. Gumball walked inside, and once he stepped in, the door closed hurriedly. The lights were turned on and Anais was sitting against the wall, legs and arms huddling together. The cat took a breath, crouching down to meet her sister on eye level. He didn't know how to start.

Suddenly, she hugged him for a second, wanting to know if he was the real thing, before settling back to her spot. "Gumball, I've been getting... nightmares."

"About what happened two days ago?"

"The school, you getting stabbed and falling into a coma, the airplane crashing, you... dying." Anais whimpered, a few tears escaping her eyes.

"Woah woah woah," The cat pulled her sister into a hug. He believed it was courageous for her to keep talking about what happened, most people would just cut off help. But... she trusted him, called him responsible. He was old enough to be responsible and be there for his younger siblings. "I'm here _and_ I'm alive. I'm not getting... any of those things. We lived through it, and for a four year old, you're... really, _really_ brave to tell me this."

"What do you mean?" Anais asked, not wanting to let go of her brother. She stayed in the embrace, thinking if she'd let go... she'd completely get lost in the world.

"With your smartness, you're ma... _ma_... _mature_! And with that ma-whatever thingy you start to shoulder every problem because adults tend to think like that. Like they could take it and save everyone else the trouble of getting more problems to handle." he smiled, "You're too young for that. For resporibity. You need to live like a normal four year old would do, live their life without shouldering your own and others' problems yourself. Don't think you could take it all, you could lend it to others to..." he paused, trying to think of a word. "...compensate."

"Wow, thanks Gumball. I really appreciate it." she replied with sincerity, while wiping a stray tear from her eye. Even though her brother didn't learn all those words properly, he managed to make sense with what he's got. Wisdom and intelligence, no. Experience with bad stuff, yes. This was her brother.

"Yep, now I've got a problem. See, do you remember that time we came back yesterday and... There was this thing I thought about mom being a second-in-command for something called _Project Rainbow_? Did you hear that?" he asked, letting go of her sister.

"Well, I heard, but I don't know what it is." she answered.

_That's all I need to know, sis. _He got up and started to leave, hand grasping at the doorknob, but before that he gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks. And _don't_ worry, everything's fine. Don't keep your problems to yourself."

He got out, walking away from the door, as Anais walked out with new confidence.

* * *

><p>After comforting his sister, he went back to class. He walked slowly, to soak up time and finish school without learning an actual thing. Except that you can light a fire with other substances other than gas. He was the actual perpetrator of an accident during that day, but since he wanted to act good, he got away from that. And that was the reason he was fidgety when principal Brown asked him into the office. Once he went back to class, bell rang, and he was trampled by tens of students who were eager to get out as fast as possible. He then deduced that he didn't need to go to class, and went in the opposite direction.<p>

"Man, I'm really getting the hand of being good." Gumball thought out loud, walking to his locker after he class was done. "Maybe..." His eyes lingered over to his longtime crush, a peanut with antlers, Penny, who was standing a long way from him. "Maybe I could... ask her out?"

Darwin walked up to him, interrupting his staring session. "Hey, dude, I have a question to ask."

Gumball replied, "Shoot."

"Well, let's say, _hypothetically_, could there be different levels of trust you can give a person?" he inquired, suspiciously. "Like, can you half trust someone and say you trust them and say you trust someone more but just call it trust?"

"Yeah," the cat answered, "I guess you can."

"That's baloney." Carrie said, teleporting into the conversation. She stared Darwin in the eye. "How _much_ do you trust me?"

"I trust you, just not as much as Gumball or Anais, but more than Tobias and Banana Joe." Darwin admitted.

"I have to add in, both Tobias and Joe are people I say that I could not trust." Gumball said, adding his two cents in. "Besides, trust is trust. You can say you trust someone, and next thing you know they'll backstab you because you didn't really know them that much."

* * *

><p><span>A few meters away...<span>

_Is he talking about me? _Zeta asked inwardly, stalking them from a few meters away.

* * *

><p>"Gumball," Darwin called, "That's not helping."<p>

"Wow, he's not siding with you? What a surprise!" Carrie said with sarcasm, but she felt a bit close to her favorite cat, thinking he was siding with her. "Of course, if you don't really trust me, just say it. It won't hurt my feelings, I don't have any!"

"That sounds like a lie." the goldfish informed, noting that she was getting angry.

"Guys, gu—I mean, ghost girl, I'm neutral in this topic." Gumball said, "I'm not taking any sides. I have _my_ side." He pointed at himself proudly. "I've already built a fort in our little war of minds. Speaking of which, you can't trust each other anymore because of this."

Realizing that the cat wasn't of any use and would only break their friendship, Carrie implied him to leave, which pained her. "Gumball, that's not what we're talking about."

Darwin, noticing the trend of events, tried to get Gumball out of their argument. "Uh, yeah, going a bit off topic there, buddy."

"Whaaat?" the cat asked. "That can't be true! I've just prepared a sentence of—"

"I think it's better for you to walk away slowly before you get caught up in their mess." Zeta suggested plainly, as he appeared out of nowhere. He did it in a similar fashion as Carrie, except he didn't teleport.

Gumball shrieked, "Wha? How'd you get here?"

"No time. Move." the metalhead said, "You don't want to get into their feud, unless you want to be a meat shield for one side."

"Eck, nope. I don't want to be a meat shield." the cat said, as he walked away.

Zeta heard the goldfish and the spirit continue to talk about trust, as Gumball was nearing his crush. Knowing Carrie, it might break her heart to see Gumball with someone else, but since she's a ghost and has acclaimed to have no emotions (but it was hard for him to believe that), she could just wave it away and search for another guy she could be interested in. The metalhead hoped it wasn't him.

"Oh no."

* * *

><p><span>Somewhere else in the school...<span>

Anais walked through the halls, trying to find a partner for her school project. After leaving the janitor closet, she was asked by some teacher to do a science project about anything for the whole school to know. The deadline was in a week, but that didn't bother her. What bothered her was that she needed a partner for this project. She couldn't pick her brothers since it wouldn't go so well. She had paired up with both of them before, and thought it would turn out good. Turns out it just wouldn't.

"Who to pick? Who to pick?" she just kept asking herself. "Not Gumball, not Darwin, but someone else. I need someone who I could depend on to not screw things up."

"You need someone to depend on to _not_ screw things up?"

Anais turned and saw someone she wouldn't expect eavesdrop. But, this _someone_ was also the most likely candidate on her list, but since Anais thought the probability of meeting this person around was low, she put it lower on her listening to secret coversation list. Right now, things have changed, she could use this as an advantage in some way.

"It's about that stupid science project, isn't it?"

Anais confidently replied, "Yes. I need someone to not screw things up. I could handle the other part of the project. I can't believe I'm saying this to you, but... you in?"

"I can't believe Gummy-puss' sister would ask, but sure."

Meanwhile, Bobert was walking around, lenses zooming in on everything. Particularly, the Wattersons. Recently, there was this new AI that has been implanted, and he doesn't notice a thing. Because it was named an 'update'. But there was more going on without him knowing. A war was starting, and his creator was one of the first ones to start it. He had thought about his creator, processed information about it, and found out... he was made in Chanax Inc. That corporation of paperwork. But how could that place build him?

* * *

><p><span>Back to Gumball...<span>

The cat neared his crush, inching his way as slowly as possible. _Maybe if I can just go smoothly, it wouldn't look like I'm desperate. _Gumball thought, sweat already forming on his forehead. _Aw, who am I kidding? There aren't that many people around. I could just look like I'm having a short chat. But what if I ended up talking for days? Who knows!_ He finally reached his destination... but he hadn't gotten an intro to himself to tell he was there. He tried to come up with one, but he needed to get the right approach. _Okay, how am I going to do this? Polite like Darwin? Smart like Anais? Out of nowhere like Carrie? Amazing like... uh, um... I should get more friends._

"Oh, hey, Gumball," Penny greeted, getting him out of his trance. "I didn't see you there. Just now. But now I did. So, um, what are you doing?" she tried nicely.

The cat tried to compose himself, leaning on the lockers to look smooth, but of course he was fidgeting and his hands were wrapping themselves up. "Oh, I was just stopping by. You know..." _Wait, what? How did I start like _that_?_ "...eh, nevermind about it. What are you doing?"

Penny chuckled awkwardly. "Oh, you know, standing around."

The two stood, both were feeling awkward with the situation. Gumball tried to come up with a topic, while Penny tried to find a way to help Gumball's confidence with her. She felt bad that the cat couldn't act correctly with girls around, or that's what her friends say. Gumball then thought of the upcoming schoolwork. "Hey, you wanna be partners in that science project?"

"Yes!" the peanut answered, delighted. "Uh, I mean—Yes, I'd like to be your partner, Gumball."

"Great!" _Oh, this is so awesome and epic and amazingly amazing!_ Gumball thought. "We could meet at the mall."

"What time?" she asked.

"Hmm..." _What's the best time to pick?_ "...I guess we could meet tomorrow affter school." he replied.

"That's wonderful! I guess I should expect to see you there tomorrow." Penny said, turning to go. "See ya, Gumball!"

"Yeah, see you too, Penny!" Gumball waved at her, grinning like an idiot. "...and you can expect me to be there! Promise!"

While Penny had disappeared off to the exit, Gumball stood there, not knowing what to do. Until, a certain metalhead popped up. "Hey, that wasn't part of the plan." Zeta interrupted, overhearing the conversation. "I thought you'd agreed to come with me to Ree's base today. At night. Which doesn't seem to interfere at all with—"

Gumball arched a brow, interrupting him. "Why at night?"

"I dunno why at night but it's got a better atmosphere for me." he explained, "It's calm, peaceful and there's always the great horrors of being haunted—"

"Yeah yeah, where do you think Ree's base is?" Gumball asked, cutting Zeta off again.

"Somewhere in Elmore." Zeta replied.

"Isn't he the kind of person that goes around a lot and has bases everywhere?" Gumball asked.

"I thought that too. Hey, maybe he had a jet so he could crash onto people for fun!" the metalhead stated with sarcasm. "But yeah, he probably has other bases, but the main one should contain information about their designated spots and such. So, it's like hitting several birds with one grenade."

Unfamiliar with the saying, he continued the conversation. "That makes sense. But what makes you so sure it's the correct base?"

Zeta sighed, "Trust me. It _has_ to be that one."

"What if Ree just wants you to think that? What if he's _so_ smart he was able to make you think that way to provoke you into coming into a trap!" Gumball said, "Ree's a trained assassin from what I recall, he must have gotten backups or other cunning plans for our doom! Zee, we're going to walk straight to our deaths. I don't wanna die." He ended with a sad frown.

"If you say so... We're still going to that base." Zeta persisted, "Ree was confident enough to underestimate the time it took you to learn my—I mean, build your own skill set. And I have to say, that skill set of yours is going pretty dang awesome." _And original, wait... original? How could _he_ be original?_

"Thank you." the cat assented.

"There's also this probability that Ree would think he could've killed you that time and come back to base without any problem. It's a risky tactical decision, since, as you know, he's a loudmouth and has no problem with talking too much. Point is, he's very confident with his own power, or the much better term, he became cocky after being able to eliminate the other... 'runaways'."

"We're not sure about _that_, though." Gumball added.

"Which is why we need the info at his base." he paused, "To know more."

"You know the saying, 'curiosity killed the cat'?" Gumball asked, trying to steer Zeta away from the topic.

Zeta groaned in mental despair. He was impatient about this, for some reason.

* * *

><p><span>That night...<span>

Throughout the buildings of the whole town, one was standing less out. The dark blue skies were filled with gloom, shining no light except for the stars. Light escaped from other structures, making almost anything seeable. The small warehouse stood weakly in the midst of it all, keeping low and camouflaging itself. Each building's exterior was identical, grayish concrete with paint getting scraped off. A shadowy figure moved nimbly along, as another one was there as if he was trying to wake the planet up.

Both stayed low, but the blue cat's foot bumped into a soda can. The aluminium rattled across the ground, making the only sound for a couple of blocks. Most people heard it, but chose to ignore it, like a psychological mental block telling them not to investigate because they could make their reasons up. Like, 'maybe a cat walked by.'

"Shh! Keep quiet!" the metalhead whispered.

"Oh, I'm so _sorry_ I never had stealth training before." Gumball retorted, glancing around. He sighed, "I should've teleported instead!"

Silently, Zeta turned to face him. "You could... teleport?" _Well, I could create portals... not that big of a deal._

"_Yeah_—wait, is that a bad thing?" the feline asked.

"Why didn't you say you could?" the helmet guy demanded.

"You never asked." Gumball answered.

Zeta rolled his eyes, and muttered, "Smartass."

The cat's ears twitched. "What was that?" he goaded, "That sounded _offensive_. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"I don't _have_ one."

Gumball couldn't find anything to say after that, he wasn't insensible to other people's emotions. Zeta, on the other hand, wasn't too much bothered by stating it out. In fact, he felt the need to go over this more quickly. He didn't want to stay any longer, he just wanted to get into the warehouse, find something and get out as a new person.

_I'm _going_ to have one._

* * *

><p>"So... you wanna talk about it?"<p>

"No."

Feeling defeated as he thought he couldn't get his _friend_ to cheer up, Gumball walked over to the computers, finding out he didn't know what to do. He turned away from the computer that was filled with memory of files and saves of Ree's stuff and looked over to the armory. "So, what was it you wanted to find?" he asked, eyes looking over a desk full of weaponry.

"Any info on this guy." Zeta explained, "Or anything at all."

"Well, there's everything here. Just sayin'." the cat said. "You know, when I first met you, I thought you were suspicious." Gumball admitted, racking his brains to try to come up with something. "But I think I could understand why. Losing people is hard, and very emotional—"

Zee turned and contemplated at Gumball. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" the cat asked.

"Stop trying to be my therapist for my nonexistent mommy problems and help me find something of use!" Zeta called out, scavenging a line of weaponry. "Jeez, what the heck does he have other than weaponry?"

"Is that what a therapist does?" Gumball inquired.

"What—I don't know! Those guys help people who have some kind of psychological problem, right? I mean, not those who are mental, but—gahh, I think you get the point." Zee looked around, hand hovering over the desk full of wonderous gadgetry.

The metalhead walked around the whole table, reading for something. There were all sorts of toys there, even illegal or experimental weapons. How Ree could've gotten these were Zeta's imagination to make up, but for the most part, he didn't want to know. He paused, finding a projector-like weapon. On the silver plating, its initials wrote 'PR'. Zeta stared at it for a moment, then glanced at Gumball, then back to the handgun with a circular dish on it. He picked the weapon up and fired it, sounding a green portal in the middle of the room.

Zeta shouted, "Hey, Gumball! Look what I found."

The cat turned after hearing a weird, yet awfully familiar, noise, he found Zeta standing in front of a portal. He walked in front of it, staring at the green textures. The edges were of two-dimensional shape, and looked like a vortex trying to pull everything inside it. "Woah-ho-ho! Where'd you find this? That sound I heard from it was exactly like..." the cat's eyes narrowed, "Wait..."

"Think fast."

"...what—"

Zeta pushed him into it the portal, and it closed automatically. The place collapsed into itself for half a second, before it turned back to normal. The metalhead stood in silence, tossing the projector onto the table. He turned away, soundlessly, as he unstrapped the holder of his Umbrella and took off his leather jacket. He pressed into his helmet, and took it off, leaving it rolling on the floor. There, he was, looking the same as always. He dusted himself, while walking towards more of the armory.

Zeta stared into the reflection of a sword, smirking at the blue cat who was gazing back at him in the same way. He could see himself wearing a beige sweater and navy-blue pants. He had taken off his black boots and gloves, and left them on the table next to him. There was a hole in the middle of his clothing, which came from a... _back_stab. He looked away, turning off the lights of the warehouse, and leaving it alone in the dark again.

Zach Watterson was back.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: ...**

**...what do you want? A dramatic noise?**

**DUN DUN DUUUN!**

**Hahaha, I'm so cliff-hangy. I've planned a whole lot of stuff to happen. Well, to some extent. Actually, I haven't planned what to do about Chapter 8. To the board of events! Okay, let's see... um, Zach, Anais' secret partner**_ (Guess who)_**, Project Rainbow, and Chanax Inc. **_(Hey, even I look things up.)_

**There is actualy no continuity in this story, it varies. Penny's still a peanut, because I still have things to do before I get to her golden fairy shapeshifting form. And also because Gumball isn't with her yet.**


	8. The Order: Forming Against

**A/N: I swear! I didn't think this would reach 10k words!  
><strong>

**EDIT: Fixed Chapter 8.**

* * *

><p><strong>The Order<strong>

**Chapter 8: _Forming Against_**

* * *

><p>Two of the show's main characters were standing around their lockers, yammering about their new test results. Actually, one main character and a one-episode-stand character. With Zach replacing Gumball, it was just acting to cover up his and Zeta's disappearances.<p>

He was now Gumball, and Zeta was in the past. That alter ego was just a phase for his plan. Now, calling himself Gumball and shaming his pride with it, he repeatedly told himself in his mind that it was all part of the act. This 'act' to get back his life, and maybe he'll get used to it. Nobody else so far has any suspicions, however, Zach (or the new Gumball) thought otherwise. But ever since that night, he's done a good job with the act since no one he talks to noticed.

"I just can't believe Jamie beat me on a test!" Zach, as Gumball, cried, "Seriously, I can't believe it! I got a D minus and she got a B plus! How did she do that?"

"Probably cheating. Or she's smarter than you think." Darwin theorized, "Think about it, instead of physically threatening us, she always goes for the mental insults and words to hurt us. She's got someone else to do the physical damage. It's possible that she's smart and wants to get in school without a problem, so she acted as a bully and teamed up with Tina! And why she got lowered a year was because she underestimated the exams!"

"Dude, you've gone crazy." Gumball thought about it. "That's a possibility, but I don't believe it."

"Why else would she call you 'Gummy-puss'?" Darwin asked as he rolled his eyes.

"That isn't related to your theory, but since you asked, everyone knows and thinks it's a good nickname." Gumball sighed, "But I'm betting she heard my mom say it and she now uses it to annoy me."

"Does anyone else call you 'Gummy-puss'?" the goldfish asked curiously, feeling to know a little trivia.

Gumball stared at him for a moment, before replying, "Well... you." he answered jokingly, but thought about it afterwards. "And mom, but not so much anymore."

"Oh," was all the goldfish could respond. "Well, in other news, we have a new science project coming up! I forgot to ask you yesterday, but do you want to pair up?" Darwin asked, while unconsciously flailing his test paper around.

"Yeah, we could." Gumball replied, "There's nothing wrong with this one decision that'll change everything we know, right?"

The goldfish with two legs looked unsure. "Yes?"

"Great!" Gumball exclaimed, exaggerating his happy mood. "That means nothing wrong will happen! Am I right?"

"Uh... yes?"

* * *

><p><span>The School Playground...<span>

_Darwin's my adoptive brother. A fish that grew legs for no reason. _Zach thought, glancing at him. _No, there's more to it. As far as I remember, he's my _pet_. The essence of the Infinite Cosmos just radiated him. I don't know what Gumball did, but it's a mixture of his energy _and_ some kind of combustion for such a mutation to happen. This was a mutation that gave birth to a happy goldfish, after the other two were failures. This one was a success. _He sighed, watching his brother trying to find something environmental for the school project._ It's depressing to think like this, but... this _is_ reality._

The cat found a swarm of kids going hurriedly to a direction. They seemed to be heading to a crowd of a circle, looking at something in the middle. With his logical thinking, it had to be a fight from the looks of it. With all that huddling and pushing, they're excited to see a battle. Of course, it got boring around school and this was obviously enticing to them. Zach groaned even more as he found people liking the mediocrity, with their chants.

"FIGHT... FIGHT... FIGHT!" roared the students.

It was only by that, Zach learned people were too cowardice to _really_ throw a punch in this school. They've never seen a real fight before, not about life and death. They care about others and particularly themselves, because they don't want to get hurt nor feel the consequences of what would happen if this were a real battle and someone got hurt. He could guess this ends with nobody taking a real example of a hit he knew, which had the force that could dent metal. Painful, was all he could remember.

"Gumball, aren't you going to help me with—oh! A fight! Let's go watch." Darwin suggested, obviously interested by the simple battles that Zach despised. He had pride, and in doing so would just break the meaning of his ego! The cat was supposed to think highly of himself. What is the point of being able to live if you don't soak in it more?!

_I don't think that fight is good enough._ Zach thought, inwardly sighing. His thoughts made him think that watching it would take a blow to his ego, since it wasn't that interesting to him. _But this is Gumball's figurative body, he would go watch it. _"Yeah, I guess we could." _Where are the teachers? What the _what_ are they doing and not being here?!_

The two walked their way halfway through the playground, trying to take a look at the fight that was going on. To Zach's dismay, this was actually what he thought it was. A slow, dull circle-around with nobody pulling attacks. Their stances weren't that great either, with anxiety written all over it. Darwin wanted to get a better look, but Zach detested that idea. All the kids were screaming for a fight, while the two boys were circling each other, nervously. Zach wanted to facepalm so hard, but to stay true to character, he had to make himself enjoy watching.

"Oh boy, this is so exciting." Gumball remarked sarcastically. "I wonder what they'll do next? Throw a punch? That will be the most action-packed thing we'll see all decade. This'll be the best fight in the history of history."

Even if it was gonna give away his secret, he just couldn't help it but _not_ care. He was one of the most powerful beings on the planet, and with being able to imitate fighting by just finding the Infinite Cosmos' feel of battle strategy, he felt higher than anyone else. He felt that he was on top of the world, and everyone should listen to him, and take notes of what he was doing right. The whole sense of his pride was for his satisfaction, a feeling no one else except him should feel.

He had spent time thinking over his plans, trying to find anything that could stop him. He even spied on people just to make sure their plans don't intersect with his. The locations of where he's gone on with the act have been planned out precisely with him easily predicting what would happen. Of course, there were the mental instabilities and Carrie's sudden emotion trips that he didn't know about that utterly made him rethink the whole idea.

Suddenly, someone heard his repulsive remarks. "Quiet man, don't give 'em ideas!" Tobias whispered from behind them.

"Huh, why aren't you in the front seat?" Darwin asked, being someone who can't look through the squad of people. He thought that Tobias could be one of the people to watch in front, since he's one of the most popular boys in school. Next to 'Gumball, the disastrous'.

"I just don't want to." he replied nonchalantly.

"Why?" the goldfish asked.

Well, it's the same thing everytime. We've got your two combatants, they'll fight, one will win and one will lose. From what I've recovered, they don't end up with any bad injuries. Pretty much anything we do here means nothing to what we do older in life, so these fights are pretty much useless. If not, then outright humiliating." Tobias explained, showing his skill of visual investigation.

"I didn't take you as the smart one." Zach retorted. _Well, actually the research kind, but whatever, I need to lower my IQ for the whole Gumball act. Wait, Gumball's not dumb, he's just too lazy to think things through. So, to act like him, I shouldn't even plan what I say. ...that's the worst plan when I could mistakenly reveal stuff. Not going down that lane._

"It took me quite a while for me to find that out, so thanks." the multicolored puff said, looking smug. It took him awhile to see through Gumball's sentence, and he ignored it because he'd rather not go into much context about him being dry and sarcastic. "Anyway, who are today's fighters?"

"It looks like..." Zach tried to remember the names. "...Anton and Idaho."

"Probably to see who's the better kind of carbohydrate. Potatoes or bread?" Tobias replied. "If it were Jamie or Tina, the fights would be interesting because they're ruthless and wouldn't give a thought about their opponent. Most of the time their enemies lie in a hospital." He gave a deliberate five second stare at the cat, before looking away.

"Excuse me?" someone asked, hints of sarcasm was placed in her voice.

When all three turned to find out who's voice was that, they find none other than the bully with verbal remarks. The girl with long orange hair that made her temporarily blind, Jamie. Darwin and Tobias shrieked a little when they saw her, but Zach never made a twitch upon making eye contact. But, due to him being Gumball for the rest of his life, he had to fake being scared. So what he did was just leave his jaw hanging.

"Holy crap." Tobias murmured, shaking a bit.

"I heard that you think I'm ruthless." Jamie stated, eyes narrowing at the colorful boy. She shifted her glance at the other two. "I just want to tell you, you're wrong. I'm just cold."

The goldfish asked, "Isn't that the same thi—"

"Shut up, fish lover." Jamie quickly responded.

Darwin felt offended, when he really shouldn't be. "I'm a fish."

_Quick, I need to do something that a 'Zach' would do... what does Gumball see in his alter ego? Oh yeah, he has a huge ego. Then I should be infamous or popular at something. Wait, that would mean losing the act and giving suspicion. But... my need of life..._ The cat thought tiredly. "So, you want to interrupt this day's battle and make it... _interesting_?" Gumball asked, a hint of a sadistic smile was made on his face.

"Sure," was Jamie's reply.

Before anyone can say anything, Jamie pulled out her phone, reading it, and then putting it back.

"Actually, I've got to go somewhere." the bull-horned girl informed. "So, I can't make anything _interesting_ around here. However, Gumball, since you made the idea, I'll make _tomorrow_ interesting by putting you on my list." She concluded, turning away and leaving the playground.

_Why did he do that? Why did he do that?!_ The puffball thought repeatedly. "Oh crap, Gumball," Tobias said, feeling horrified for his friend. He could already see Gumball getting punched in the face, made fun of afterward, and then left for dead. Yep, and in just only one punch. "You're on her list."

"What's the list?" Darwin asked, glancing at the two.

"Hup-up-up." Gumball closed his eyes and showed his hand to Tobias. "First, when were we friends? Second, what _is_ the list?"

"Hold up, when were we friends? We were friends since—you know what nevermind. I'm just gonna ignore that," Tobias sighed at that thought. "Okay, the list is pretty simple. You're on Jamie's hit list, and she's put you on the _top_ of her list if she listed you for tomorrow."

_He's hiding something. _Zach thought. _But it wasn't about the list. It was about our friendship... but I can't remember._ Gumball faked a gulp, "Then, I'll have to prepare being sucker punched in the face tomorrow. Easy as that."

"You're gonna risk your reputation as a guy?" Tobias asked, worriedly. He would get laughed at as the guy who was friends with Gumball, and he didn't want that.

"Just like what you said," Gumball crossed his arms. "Nothing here will lead up to our older lives. It's not gonna do anything in the long run."

"Dude, stop jinxing yourself." Darwin advised, "It's not good for your health."

"Bad luck entirely isn't good for _anything's_ health." Tobias mentioned.

"Hey, I guess you're right." the goldfish commented.

"OOH! FIRST HIT!" the crowd shouted.

Zach looked back and saw Anton on the ground while Idaho looked as if he did nothing. _Maybe the wind blew him down?_ He thought. _Anton's always getting targeted because he's bread._ The cat turned to his two misfit friends. "Hey, looks like Anton lost."

"Oh, really? Well, our time here is up." Tobias said, "Let's move out."

"Wait, I wanna try something." Gumball said, smiling. He turned to the crowd. _Well, here goes..._ "Hey! I've got a challenge for everybody! I want someone to knock me out!"

In an instant, Darwin and Tobias pulled him away from the group of students. "What are you? _Crazy_? You're gonna get yourself killed!"

Darwin whispered, "I know you've beaten Ree, but what you're doing is giving out your secret. Just because you're good at fighting doesn't mean it's good for everyone to fight you."

_Me? Beat Ree? Heck no. But the real Gumball could. Gummy made this a secret? Woah, I wonder why he hid it._ "Relax, bud..." the cat waved them away. He turned to the students again. "I'd like to challenge the whole school to win the title of 'best fighter'."

Tobias muttered, "Yep, he's gone insane." and ran off. Darwin, however, was standing around to make sure his brother doesn't get into anymore trouble.

"Why are you doing this? Aren't you, like, the worst at everything?" someone from the crowd shouted.

"Well then, if I'm bad at everything. That means you'd be able to knock me out pretty easily, right?" Gumball asked, smirking at the crowd of people. _Come on, there's got to be at least one volunteer. _Zach thought. "If I'm able to beat you, that means you're worse than the worst." he provoked, "But we won't know that till one of you tries."

Nobody moved.

"Why're you scared? Aren't I the _worst_?" Gumball asked, in a mockingly sincere tone. "Okay, I'll give you time to think. After lunch, this tournament will be open. Anyone enters when they like. You can even go up against me in groups. If you dare." He was unintentionally posing as a threat, which was never the case with Gumball. "But I must warn you... pain is no stranger to us."

* * *

><p><span>In the school hallways...<span>

"Why did you do that?"

Gumball glanced at Darwin before sighing. _I want to spend all the time I have as Gumball. Because that idiot could show up and ruin everything. Unless, he doesn't figure out, then I'm safe for the rest of my life. _"Because, I need to get some recognition. I want to have some pride in me before I turn into an old man."

"But these are middle school students!" the goldfish exclaimed, "Not to sound biased, but unless you don't hold back, they don't stand a chance!

"Easy, I won't use a weapon. But them..." he chuckled darkly, "...they can use weapons."

"What are you trying to say?" Darwin asked, suspicious. He just realized that ever since he found out about the Infinite Cosmos, everything went into a depressing spiral of negative emotion. Even the lovable Gumball, who was the happiest child in Elmore, was becoming a sarcastic, overthinking teen. "That everyone here is as aggressive as you are?" He felt betrayed, his own brother was breaking the rules of his morals. With that, he felt that he couldn't... trust him.

"No," the cat replied, going into an even unhappier territory. "But I'm not surprised if they are."

That's when Darwin stopped walking with Gumball, finding out he's not the same as before. He's not the happy kid that would entertain everybody by humiliating himself like a fool. No, this was a kid who wants to be recognized as a brick wall. This cat was being cynical, suspicious even. He cared little about others and even thought they were capable of defending themselves against him. Darwin just hoped that Gumball would get back his senses before starting this.

But, it looked like, as long as that cat walked, he would be getting farther away from what Darwin wanted him to be. Being the abnormally fun cat he knew. On his list of trustworthy people, Gumball was crossed off.

* * *

><p><span>Somewhere, a school project was taking place...<span>

"I didn't think you were that smart." Anais complimented.

"Was that an insult?"

"No," the bunny replied nonchalantly. "No, it wasn't. _But_, how would you like to work with me for later projects?"

"Heh, gladly."

* * *

><p><span>After lunch...<span>

After hours of being lectured about how pythagoras' theorem could help in the real world, even though it's obviously not. Who would think of calculating for triangles? Triangles aren't even interesting anymore. All people have are rectangles that are used for talking, searching and playing.

Ehem, while learning how we should all know about the lengths of triangles, everyone had their eyes fixated on Gumball. There was just that air of silence around him that warped their minds. He, in their vision, was an outright lunatic. He was the walking disaster, then mysteriously standing up from a coma, then he asks for a tournament fit for giving him more kicks to the head. This cat was seriously mental, and needed a checkup to see if he was all right in the head.

Gumball walked alone in the corridors, eyes cold. He strode proudly theough the school doors, walking to the playground floors, only to see nobody participating. He stood in the middle, waiting for anyone. _Drats. _He thought. _Why isn't there anybody? If no one's going to face me, I'll be flipping someone to the ground soon. I can't sit still while Gumball could be getting out. This may be my _only_ chance at fun._

"Hey, I heard about this tournament." a person said, who looked like a teenage cyclops. Little was known about him, but he was kind and gentle, never one to fight. But today, he felt the need to show he could stand up to himself. "You're Gumball, right?"

"Yes, Rob." the cat responded in a formal tone, remembering how this guy used to annoy him because his counterpart and Darwin forgot his name. "I see you've done your homework. But still, it won't matter till I break you."

"Br-Break me? Don't make me laugh." He walked up to him, trying to size him up. "What are you gonna break—"

Zach took his arm and twisted it, and in turn, spinning Rob's body around. "I could break your arm." He made a gentle kick to the leg, which could be easily broken down. "Or I could break your leg. Either way, it's gonna be _painful_."

"Okay, okay, I give!" the cyclops pleaded, feeling the torment rise.

Zach didn't comply at all, using this time to fake his mercy. "Sorry, but when you're in, you're not getting out—"

"GUMBALL!" someone shouted.

"'scuse me," the cat told his hostage, before kicking at his leg and crumpling it, also letting go of his restrained arm. Rob landed head first into the pavement, moaning in agony. Zach turned to his caller, and found a grumbling face. "Too late now, isn't it?"

"Yep, I guess it's too late now." she sighed, inspecting the injured. The ghost knew that Gumball was good, after hearing from Zeta all day about how he felt cold after getting impaled in the waist. "Were you that impatient to notice that not _everyone_ finished lunch?" Carrie asked, turning her head to the crowd of students that were aghast to what they just saw. "Couldn't you have waited a _few_ more seconds before the horror started?"

"No," Gumball answered plainly. "But what's gotten into you?"

_What's gotten into _you_?_ Carrie thought back, but she didn't say it out. "Zeta's not here. So, I can't vent my suppressed emotions on him." the ghost explained. "Anyway, you know where he is?"

"I don't know." the cat replied, smirking inwardly as he didn't have to face her anymore. Still, he felt a twinge of guilt, feeling that he'd miss her. But he couldn't dwell on that now, he focused on the happy side of things. "He never told me where he went after he jumped on a jet last night." he added.

"That rotten barnacle! He ditched me!" she turned away, "Oh when I find him, he'll have hell to pay!"

_Wow, I didn't know she cared that much. _Zach remarked in his mind. _I thought she only cared about Gumball. Oh well, the more you know._

"I'm going to find him." the ghost said, before flying off.

"Well," Gumball began, lifting his voice out. "I guess this makes the start of the tournament. First loser Rob, you're now worse than the worst, but you lasted a good ten seconds. I wonder if it'll be that easy for me take anyone _else_ down." He felt like kicking himself in the face after calling himself 'the worst'. In fact, it was the opposite. He was the _best_. With Ree being gone and Gumball out of the picture, he was the best in Elmore.

The crowd muttered, conversing secretly to pick out which to fight against the blue feline. After what they saw, they seemed to lose confidence in themselves, thinking they'd end up the same as the poor cyclops. The words of Gumball's rang in their minds, 'But I must warn you, pain is no stranger to us'. They picked out his next victim, Anton. The piece of bread nervously made his way to meet the cat, who was standing with his hands on his hips.

"Now," Zach said, putting as much suspense as possible. "Try and hit me."

"HYY_AAA_!" Anton swung his fist at him, eyes clenched as he knew what was going to happen. He couldn't lose another fight after losing to Idaho earlier, he just couldn't! He put all his might into that one punch, his skinny arm was racing for Gumball.

PAF!

The attack was caught, as Gumball's hand had overwhelmed the bread's hand. The cat applied pressure, cracking the bread's hand. It wasn't that gruesome, since Anton had been fed to birds and was notorious for faking so many deaths (or surviving). Gumball held him up, lifitng Anton's feet in the air. The cat yawned, pulling him up slowly. "You know, you weren't that much of a challenge compared to Rob, but you wasted my time though. Good for you."

Zach harshly threw the bread across the ground, scraping scraps of wheat onto the playground floor. Anton didn't think of getting up, he knew it would be suicide to go up against him. Gumball dusted his hands, waiting for another challenger.

"Who else?"

In a flash, a dark, eight-legged creature bursted from the students, attempting to gain the element of surprise. Ocho flew in the air, waiting to hear the cat shriek in surprise and whine about how intense and scary he was. Too bad, that wasn't the case. The cat didn't flinch, like he was expecting for this to happen. When he was in proximity, Gumball took a step forward, threw his readied leg out, and kicked the 8-bit spider into another direction. It crashed into the floor like the others, but it was not out.

"Nice, a tactical plan, surprising the enemy. Unfortunately, I've predicted this would happen." Zach remarked, walking over to the fallen pixelated spider. Ocho then flipped upright, and began to use his 'cheat codes' to gain the other hand. "But, I know one thing you have, and it's the ability to become omnipotent. Sadly, you _won't_ have the chance!"

Before anything happened, Gumball rushed forward and stomped on the arachnid, forcing it into unconsciousness. Zach then swept him away with his leg, and targeted his sight on the audience. A red blob was slowly nearing him, and this one was particularly interesting. Clayton can stretch and maneuver himself away from pain, and Zach wondered what he could bring in store. "Hey, Gumball, Go easy on me, will ya?"

Zach cracked his neck, "How 'bout... no."

"Then I'll make it hard for you too." the red blob of clay said with a frown, glaring at him.

Relishing in the challenge, he couldn't say no. He couldn't say anything positive to the blob of clay or else he wouldn't have as much of a kick as he's having now. Being able to take down anyone felt rewarding. After being a floating mind, planning revenge, he felt that _this_ was his treasure. The life of the cat he was bottled up in. He retorted back to Clayton, "I'd like to see you try."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the group of students were conversing with each other. Watching would be devastating, seeing their friends or acquaintances being struck down with a few hits. It was a live horror film to them, with Gumball as the antagonist. Tobias and Darwin were there with them, but they hadn't said a thing because they were too busy listening. Banana Joe couldn't even lighten up the mood after seeing how ferocious the blue cat had been. Teri had to get a group and secretly take the victims to the sick room. So far, Rob had a broken leg, Anton had some scrapes on him, while Ocho was recovering from being treated as dirt.<p>

"Gumball is a _monster_."

"Look at it, he's destroying them. We need someone better."

"Like Tina or Jamie? Where are they anyway?"

"Not here I suppose."

"Well, let _us_ handle it!"

Darwin and Tobias looked up at the only ones who were full of confidence, only to be let down immensely. They couldn't believe these dorks could prove anything, even teaming up against Gumball. But when they showed them what they had, they were having second thoughts. They sighed in dissatisfaction, seeing this was the only way.

* * *

><p>The blob of clay warped itself around the cat, after countless of times failing to beat him. Clayton tried turning into a hammer and smashing him, but Gumball was able to roll out and slash at him. Who knew his claws were deathly painful. He tried turning into other things, but it ended up in the same way, getting himself hurt somehow. His only way of beating Gumball was to huddle around him and suffocate him. It was a dark thought, and a bad move, but he was elected to stop the cat from doing anymore harm. He was only going to let him blackout, what's the worse that could happen?<p>

Zach, finding himself surrounded by clay, started to use his primary weapons, which weren't used that often. This was a last resort, and Clayton was a real threat to him now. There was no light, but he could still see through his cat-eyes, but it didn't help. It was the same, being covered in clay. Suddenly, he found out his space of movement was being hindered. Clayton was closing off on him! He felt his back touch the cold texture of clay, and his breathing became erratic.

He widened his eyes. _Air!_ Zach thought, holding his breath for the next moments. It didn't help, as pressure began to build around him, decreasing his space for any activity. The cat was being crushed, and he had no oxygen. His lungs were practically screaming, his chest becoming heavy.

There was still something he didn't try. He never used it, but it wouldn't hurt to use it now. He had an ability for more offensive measures, like how Gumball had burst of explosive energy appearing out of thin air. He had the ability to move things without needing to touch them, like it was from his mind. Telekinesis, they call it. But he found there were several grades of telekinesis, one to five, with one being the least efficient. After practicing it, he could only get it to level two.

Not wasting any time, or air, he only thought._ ...here... goes... _Suddenly, his eyes flashed purple, similar to how Gumball's eyes flashed orange. There was no movement at first, then the red substance was being violently ripped apart, freeing Zach from the restraints. The clay flew about, raining red hard mush, while Zach stood in the epicenter of the mess. "Ah crud, I killed him." he said, trying to hide his remorse.

"No, you didn't." a response came from one of the clay pieces. "I'm just scattered around."

"Oh, well, good luck morphing back together. By the way, looks like you lost." Zach replied in an unenthusiastic way. He turned to the crowd, rasing his voice. "Hey! Anymore?!"

"As a matter of fact," a person stood out, walking in front of the crowd with his twin. "There are still _more_."

"Hah, what is it? Some kind of stupid invention that you think could beat me? Fat chance, rewiring it to fail is gonna be a piece of cake." the cat said arrogantly, crossing his arms. "Tell you what. I won't use my hands, you _nerds_."

"Why how dare—grrr... Brother! Let's make ourselves proud!" the egghead with glasses chanted out, trying to get themselves encouraged. His twin nodded, currently ecstatic about this. "He'll pay for underestimating us!"

In a flash, one of them caught up to the cat, who was stunned by how they got there. In reaction, he punched one of the Eggheads. The one without glasses fell to the ground, clutching his face in pain. Zach scratched the back of his head. "Eh, sorry I lied." he apologized nervously. "I got a little surprised there."

"Liar!" the other egghead said, boosting himself in front of him. "I knew you were going to go against your words, you dishonest scum—" Gumball kicked him away, knocking him off his track, sending him spiralling into the floor.

"Sorry, you were just too loud." the cat pouted, walking towards the Egghead with glasses. He found a gray backpack on him, which looked like a jetpack. Zach pulled open the casing, and fumbled with the wiring. "I see the problem... There! I fixed it. Ready to fail."

"Err, darn you!" the other Egghead exclaimed, rocketing towards him. Zach rolled off in time, and watched as he tumbled into a tree. It shook, and the vast majority of its leaves fell to the ground. There was no rustling of him getting up, so he was assumed unconscious.

The one with glasses got back up, and tried to activate his jetpack, but it backfired... literally. It went up in flames, and he screamed all the way back to the school, and into a swimming pool. But with an electric-powered jetpack, it zapped and fried the whole pool of water, leaving the nerd with burns.

Gumball watched curiously as the crowd was beginning to back away, frightened with how good Gumball was able to wreck their greatest hopes. Darwin took a deep breath, and stepped into the battlefield, much to the dismay of the other students.

Zach's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

Darwin glared, "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"You're gonna..." the cat cracked a smile. "...fight me? Pfff... Bwa-hahaha!" he laughed, head arching back. "You know you can't beat me! I can prove it."

"You're not fighting him alone!" Tobias shouted, stepping side by side with Darwin. "You're gonna face all of—" He looked back, seeing nobody else join his formation. "—Uh, I mean... You're gonna have to face the both of us!"

"Wow, you're really helping me?" the goldfish asked.

"Yep. We're so going to die today, aren't we?" he asked cautiously.

"Gumball's gonna kill us." Darwin assented.

Zach couldn't hear them converse, so he just eyed the both of them. Feeling as though he'd given enough time, he rushed, dashing silently after them. It was only then, Tobias noticed, and he was knocked back a couple of ten feet by a headbutt. Gumball turned to face Darwin, who gave the same spark. The goldfish tried to charge at him, but he had only gone so far to knock heads with him involuntarily, and he staggered backwards.

Darwin clutched at his head. "Dude! What's your head made of?!"

"Oh, you know, minerals." Gumball nonchalantly replied.

The cat went over to kick, but Darwin hopped over him like a frog, and sent a kick to his back with his long legs. Zach stumbled forward, before turning and sending another kick, using the momentum of his turn. Darwin nimbly moved away, wasting the cat's energy, and he tried to go around him to tire him out. It didn't work as well as he thought.

Gumball tripped him down, and he pulled him by the neck with his small hands and talked to him up close. "You don't want to fight me, do you Darwin?" The goldfish already had sweat forming on his face, eyes widening in fear. "We could stop this. I'm giving you a chance to leave." Zach's eyes were cold, never blinking throughout the ordeal. "Take it or I'm going to have to hurt you."

"HYAA!" Darwin's savior came to save the day, pushing Gumball away and helping him up. Tobias huffed, already running out of stamina. "I can't take it anymore. I'm not as fit as I thought I'd be." he remarked, arms drooping low. "I want to surrender. Darwin, can we do that?"

"Just a second ago, yes. Now, probably not." the goldfish said.

Gumball looked up at them, pulling himself up. "Your tickets to the hospital has been ensured."

Tobias and Darwin froze at that, feeling the clouds huddle to their doom. Gray clouds began to fill the sky, casting shadows over them. The sun's radiance had gone away, discouraging them with a dark gloom.

"I'll cancel that appointment."

"Not again." Zach groaned, knowing who he heard.

"Jamie?" some students said.

There the orange-haired, bull-horned, lion-tailed... hybrid-tomboy was, standing arms-crossed with a scowl on her face. She walked up to them, particularly to Gumball. Darwin and Tobias bailed, something they hated to do. The bull-horned girl watched as the rain started to lightly patter, and the students started to head to the school, but stayed to watch with the doors open.

"I'd say I want to pummel you one day in advance, seeing as my schedule is built tomorrow." she said.

Gumball sighed at the sight of her, he didn't think he would have to see her till tomorrow. Jamie stood opposite to him, her green arms going by her side. The cat and the hybrid glared at each other, as the rain hit them in the face with moderate strength.

"I see," was all Zach responded with.

The only sound that came was the strangely soothing rainfall, as it calmed everyone down. It was a pattern of rain that made it feel lively, but it got harsher with each passing minute. It was turning... dead. The gray clouds became darker, the wind picked up, Elmore High was gonna get a rainy day.

* * *

><p><span>Five minutes earlier...<span>

"So, we're gonna test this?"

"Yes, we're gonna test this."

* * *

><p><span>Now...<span>

Zach felt the water splash onto his head, each drop of rain consolidating him. Jamie, on the other hand, felt the water as a distant reminder to how much time was going away. Each drop was going away, like how time flows to nothingness. Each second living then getting replaced by another, a cycle of time. It would go on till the end.

Zach smirked, "You actually came here."

"Yeah, I did." Jamie responded, curious to why he said that.

"What made you want to fight me earlier than what you'd planned?" Gumball asked.

* * *

><p><span>Four minutes earlier...<span>

"So, these _things_... they're able to break walls of brick."

"Yes."

* * *

><p><span>Now...<span>

"Well, I heard you made this tournament, _right_ when I left." she answered, "To be honest, this looks _nothing_ like a tournament."

"Touché." the cat replied.

The rain began hitting harder. Their soft dribbles turned into hard-hitting splashes. The melodic tune of water striking the ground became harsher, a sync to how the two felt like being.

"Shall we start?" Zach suggested.

"If we don't, what's the point of me being here?" Jamie retorted, "Gummy-puss."

* * *

><p><span>Three minutes earlier...<span>

"And you want me to go to Gumball's tournament... to try and beat him with these?"

"You'll need it." someone said in a rather dry tone.

* * *

><p><span>Now...<span>

Zach glared at her, before breaking off into a sprint and knocking her away. Rainwater danced with every action, swishing through the air as a flash of light came from above.

BOOM!

Thunder roared, but they weren't shaken by it. Jamie got back up and punched the cat in the face, hitting him with a truckload of force. His body seemed to fly past thirty feet, hitting walls of rain as he passed. The cat got back up, feeling his skull being bashed into dust. Another flash went, and Jamie was gone from his peripheral vision. The tomboy had obscured herself in the light of electric-plasma. Gumball looked around frantically, but got punched again, this time in the stomach.

BVROOM!

Another boom of thunder, and their surroundings began to dim, rain becoming a downfall for them. They had felt soaked, cold and pained by how bad the rain became. There was a small flood coming onto their feet, and with each step it splashed water everywhere. Zach kicked at the water, bringing him back up from the floor, and he stood back up after his body felt like falling. No, he wasn't about to fall to such injury like last time, he was going to go with it.

His feet splashed against the ground, as he brought his fists together and smacked them across Jamie's head, making her stumble back. It wasn't enough. He lifted his leg to kick, but there was a force holding him back, and it was the storm that was brewing. He managed to kick at her leg, leaving both in pain as it didn't work out as he thought it could. The splat of water hitting them at the same time brought them down. Jamie arched back a punch, then let her fist fly.

The cat dodged, taking her arm and pulling her towards him. He kneed her waist, using as much force to knock her out with tormenting injuries. If he needed to be violent, he'll do it. But Jamie... was reluctant. She was never one to fight, but when she did, she'd find herself on top without any bruises. There weren't any advantages for her now, and she knew she was losing the battle. Lightning flickered, and they were casted with white light.

BER-VROOM!

It roared again, but at a safe distance away from them. Gumball struck her again, without any mercy. She crashed onto the ground, water splashing everywhere, making her feel bad. Today, Zach had broken a leg, crushed a hand, stomped on someone's body, smashed someone into a tree, electrocuted and burned a twin, knocked someone twenty feet away and fought against his brother. With the rainy setting, there was no way he was gonna give any reluctance on fighting a girl.

Jamie got back up, limbs feeling tired. She forced her hands up, balling them into fists. She charged at the cat, striking him in the face with all her might, but found he wasn't gonna back down that easily. Zach got back up, blow after blow, he wasn't gonna lose. Jamie realized, this wasn't Gumball. She knew him as a scared cat who wouldn't hurt anyone. Who was this person she was facing? What made him have the drive to become as bloodthirsty as this?

Gumball kicked at her lightly, using this as an opening, then bumped her head with his, feeling like he struck metal, but he coninued nonetheless. Gripping at his fingers, he made a low strike at her waist, then made an uppercut with his other hand. Jamie's body staggered back, trying to not slip on the rising waters.

The bull-horned girl gaped at him, muscles twitching. She felt like she got hit by an actual bull that time. What was going on? Her body felt like it was gonna sleep any moment! Jamie huffed, the rain never giving any support, as it loudly crashed onto the floor with rage. She took this example, and tried to lift herself back up to standing straight. Zach, however, was not convinced.

He could see the tiredness in her eyes. Whether she noticed or nor, her orange hair had gone into a fray, water making it stick and all the attacks he'd done blew the hair out of her eyes. Gumball could see her almost giving up, she wasn't going to last much longer. He stood straight as well, not tiring as fast as her.

"I've got to say... I never expected you to have stay up this long." he remarked, his voice cutting through the rain.

"Does that mean I win?" Jamie responded sarcastically.

Unable to hear her dry tone through the splashes of water, he yelled, "No."

Their bodies lit up again in white light, and it flickered back to the dark atmosphere it was having, as the clouds became heavier and heavier, blocking out the sun's rays from ever reaching them.

KRAKA-BOOM!

The booming thunder they heard was _so_ close, they could feel their hairs go up. The thought of getting struck by lightning came into their minds, as Jamie hesitantly rushed over to attack. Zach's ears were ringing from the thunder (with him having better hearing than Jamie, also gave a disadvantage), and he stood there with hands covering his ears. Jamie struck him in the cheek, getting him to slide on the wet grounds, hurting from the water, the punch and the noise.

* * *

><p><span>Three minutes earlier...<span>

"Don't you think it's going to be a bit... 'overkill'?"

There was no response for a moment.

"We won't know or sure."

* * *

><p><span>Now...<span>

_Gosh dang, this isn't overkill. This is too little! _Jamie thought, gritting her teeth. She could see Gumball's body rise up again, a little vague from the rain. His dark-blue silhouette was a stark contrast to his normal sky-blue fur. If anything, it was another sign of Gumball _not_ being happy. And it wasn't a good thing. _He's not going down! But, his bones should've shattered from the amount of pressure I did with each attack. They're able to break walls of brick for frick's sake!_

Zach glared, holding his chest. He felt like his ribs shattered into pieces, all turning into dust. But he needed to keep going, even if his jaw might be broken from that last punch. The cat ran up to the hybrid, eyes flashing purple. It might be cheat, but he wasn't about to lose against a mere 'bully'.

Suddenly, Jamie felt like she was getting pushed... by nothing! Zach wasn't even in proximity, nor had he even touched her. She stood her ground, the gloves around her hands crackling. The cat kicked her, and she retaliated with a strike to the face. A low shockwave rippled through the air, disturbing the rain and knocking the air around them. Waves of pressure changed drastically, pushing the two combatants away from each other. Their bodies slid through the murky rainwater, completely soaked.

Zach clutched his head, rolling in the flood. He was having the migraine of his life, his vision swimming and his senses distorting. He couldn't see anything properly. It was all blurry and unclear. Colors kept shining in his sight, keeping him from seeing practically anything. He still got up, feeling nausea as water kept covering him. At this rate, he and Jamie were gonna catch a cold. But that was _definetely_ the least of their problems.

Lying on the watery ground, Jamie felt like throwing up. Her thoughts were racing, her limbs were numbing, she couldn't do anything right. The tomboy tried getting up, forcing her fatigue body to stand. Her wrists were in pain, probably from too much punching, and with the throwback force... it was agony. She couldn't get her thoughts straight, and she was mostly worried. _Are any of my bones broken? Am I bleeding? Do I have head trauma? Are my vitals doing good? Am I wounded or broken anywhere?_

Zach pushed himself up, his body failing him. _No! Must keep going! She's right there!_ He saw it. He saw through the facade. The bull-horned girl was holding her torso, huffing and panting. She was struggling just as hard as he, maybe even harder. He was gonna win this! _Just need to... outlast her._

She wiped away the water that was on her face, and so her eyes could see without distraction. Gumball was there, standing and heaving. There was a glint in his eyes, the color purple. It went away, and she shook her head, thinking she was imagining stuff. _No time to make fun of me brain! Focus! He's in just as bad of a shape as I am._

She made her way, gloves starting to form blue dots of light. Zach did the same, inching himself towards her. The two were in close proximity, able to give the final blow at any given moment.

Lightning flashed.

Thunder boomed.

* * *

><p>They heard the rain fall, as the storm raged on. The students could only see two figures in the rain, dancing around violently. With light reflecting off the drops of rain, they could distinguish their movements. They might've lost them a couple times, but they were still able to see were they were now. After that last shockwave, which everyone swore they felt from inside the school, they were intrigued to who won. They were also staggered by how much power those two had.<p>

With the rare occurrences of lightning, they saw the battered forms of their friend or enemy. With the loud incoming of thunder, they awed as minutes passed and they were still there, standing in the rain. With how wet and tired they were, they don't know what's keeping them up this long.

"What's going on?"

"Are those two going to be all right?"

"Who's winning?!"

"My bet's on Jamie."

"But Gumball's a beast recently. I think it's gonna be him!"

Darwin couldn't believe it, but he was rooting for Jamie to knock some sense into his brother. Whack him a couple times in the head to turn his thoughts around. The goldfish watched as rain splashed on the ground, a flood beginning to reach the top of the stairs.

Tobias and Banana Joe had glanced at a few students, to watch them awe. But what made them curious was Bobert. The robot was watching it intensely, beeping silently as his visors kept blinking with colors. The camera-like eye kept zooming in and out, keeping a close eye on the battle. Did someone program him to record the whole thing? If so, they couldn't wait to watch it.

* * *

><p>Back against the ground, contempt was in mind.<p>

_How was the opponent able to beat me?_

The person felt the water surround, eyes closed as the body failed to come to closure. It just couldn't think of a way. The loser's body laid there, unmoving, as muscles were straining from the battle. Rain pattered over the person, as _he_ laid there with shame.

He opened his eyes, finding her standing, her figure overshadowing him. Jamie sighed, but put on a smile, enough to let him see. The rain attacked her back, but she didn't care, as she held out a hand to him. Zach grunted, his pride telling him not to accept her pity and his defeat. But he did it anyway, using the last amount of his energy, his tired arm grabbed hers, and she pulled him up.

The rain became softer, the clouds became lighter, the water level on the ground decreasing. Zach had failed again, he lost against Gumball, then to Ree and now to Jamie. How humiliating. He lost against his alter ego, because the Universe worked that way. He lost against Ree because he was just too much. But... he lost against Jamie... for no Universal reason. Was he just that weak? Was this the reason he kept failing against others? Was he really... the _worst_? One thing was certain, Zach had lost himself his own respect.

"Well then, Gummy-puss, I won this round." Jamie stated, smirking to herself.

Zach gave a cold stare, before closing his eyes and putting a fake smile on his face. "Yeah, you're better than the worst."

"Haha, that's what I'd like to hear, Gummy-puss." she replied, "I am better. I am the _best_." _...well, I cheated a bit. But if I hadn't, I think I would've died today. I never felt more alive. _Jamie thought, catching her breath. "You're nothing but a sore loser! The princess of losses! Gummy-puss the disastrous!"

"Please don't say that again." Gumball muttered.

"Or what?" Jamie asked challengingly, then adding. "Gummy-puss?"

Zach glared, before turning away, unable to respond to that. He limped his way to the sick bay, needing to get medical attention. Jamie needed the same treatment too, but he didn't want to wait around for her. It even looked like she didn't even _feel_ pain. The cat sighed, making his way towards the school doors, grumpily making his way as the spectators moved out of the way for him. With how bad he looked, they could tell it was worse than what he had done to his victims.

"Gumball... lost?" someone asked, watching as the cat went on to get to the med bay.

Darwin could see the loss in the cat's eyes, showing anger and distress. He turned to them, to confirm their guesses.

"Yes, Gumball has lost."

* * *

><p>The cat sat on the white bed, contemplating at the floor. He had cracked ribs, head trauma and broken limbs. But to his surprise, no blood loss. His vitals were doing fine. His head and torso were wrapped in bandages and he had casts, for his arm and leg. He had been offered crutches, but he denied, saying it'd make him look weird. To tell the truth, it made him look weak. He could take care of himself.<p>

He had no visitors, mostly because he had just been fixed up and everyone didn't like to see him mad. His eyes were showing arrogance, unable to accept defeat. His frown was all it would take to show anyone he wasn't messing around. He could still flip a few people to the ground if he wanted, he was recovering fast.

He looked up to see the other students he put in here. Rob had a cast for his arm. Anton was just resting with bandages placed everywhere. Ocho was placed in a full-body cast. Clayton was being melded together on his own. The Egghead without glasses had an ice pack on his cracked forehead, while he was looking over his twin, who was wrapped in bandages from severe burns. And then, there were Darwin and Tobias, who were just being around to get ice packs for their bruises.

Jamie was there. She had a cast for her torso, and she had to bandage her arms and legs from scrapes. She also had an ice pack, which seemed like a common trend, on her head. There was a thermometer in her mouth and a blanket wrapped around her, like she was having a fever. No, a cold.

She sneezed, before turning to Gumball. "You're gonna get it."

"Well, I was in the rain too, and I didn't get sick. So,mwhat makes you think I'm gonna catch it from you." Zach smirked, knowing his resistance to illnesses.

"Not what I meant," Jamie replied, "When I get out of this cast, you're gonna be in another one." she said, feigning confidence. "Gummy-puss."

"Oh, for the love of—Can you stop that?" Gumball demanded, getting irritated with the nickname.

Jamie smirked, "Or what? Gummy-puss?"

Darwin intervened, "Guys. Stop."

Zach turned his head to the goldfish, who looked worried about him. Of course, he was still his adopted goldfish brother, their bond couldn't have broken. Well, he did leave him silent and fought him. Heck, he even talked to him like some sort of stranger. Darwin must've noticed something wrong by now, and he didn't want that.

The goldfish stared at the cat, feeling uncomfortable with him staring back. Darwin didn't know what to think of his brother. He didn't trust him anymore. Was he supposed to hate him because of what he did? Should he treat him differently because he liked to fight? Now, he didn't know if Gumball was still at the level of a middle school, because _Jamie_ was able to beat him. He thought it was the other way around, seeing how Ree was such a disaster.

Darwin sighed. Should he still follow him because he was his brother? Or should he avoid him because of how he's acting? He'd already talked to him, and it wouldn't work with how Gumball was treating him.

Just then, Anais walked into the room, finding lots of people needing care. "Wow... and this was Gumball's doing?" she frowned, clearly disappointed in her brother. Yesterday, she wouldn't think he would've had the bitterness to do all this. He was caring for others, just like he told her. She walked up to her brothers, "Hey," She began, "I've found something."

Jamie's head perked up. "What is it?"

"Something you wouldn't want to know." Gumball snapped resentfully.

Anais glanced at Darwin for anything about why Gumball acted like that. The goldfish just gave a shrug. "I don't know."

"Well, if you weren't in such a bad condition, I would tell you." she said.

"I'm not in a bad condition." the cat said, starting to unravel the bandages.

Darwin and Anais watched as the cat unwrapped the bandages from his head, revealing no injury. This went on while he violently tore off the casts, showing no sign of any broken parts or markings from the fight. He was healed, in only two hours time. The school had almost finished, so it was perfect timing.

The bull-horned girl twitched an eye. "Okay, what just happened?"

* * *

><p><span>A few minutes later...<span>

They teleported into her room, after finding a spot to hide their traces. The three stood around, feeling mutual to the elephant in the room, Gumball. But they decided to keep it down and let it slide for the day.

"I've gotten info on Project Rainbow." Anais informed, "It's working with Chanax Incorporated to create weapons. They have scientists who have information about the Infinite Cosmos. They took the artifact back from _our_ expedition, and are now using it to power their weaponry. So far, we don't know their motives."

"Anything with weapons is bad." the goldfish added. "Right?"

_I didn't expect this. Gumball discovered some place of destructive capabilities. And he inadvertently made his sister find the Infinite Cosmos! This is turning out a bit too good. _Zach thought. On the outside of his mind, Gumball sighed, "I'll look into it. I'm gonna need someone to help me with this."

"I... see." Anais was saddened by the fact that her brother was going into something that involves the risk of dying. The cat and bunny turned to Darwin, who was shocked to see that both of them chose him to help Gumball to do something to a project and a company. With his deduction skills, he knew it would involve him needing to side with Gumball to fight.

"But, I'm a pacifist!" Darwin stated. But after today, Zach wouldn't believe that.

Gumball and Anais glanced at each other, before the cat stared at his brother. "Didn't you make me watch that fight this morning? You even fought against me after that! And as a plus, most of the video games we've played are full of violence."

"Yeah, but that's—" Darwin was interrupted.

"Still a simulation of violence." Anais finished. "Games are played to entertain you, and you get _really_ entertained with those kind of games."

"You like destruction, don't you, Darwin?" Gumball asked with a cheesy smile. Said smile gave them hope that he was still there.

The goldfish sighed, rolling his eyes. "Yes. I just didn't want to get hurt."

"See, it wasn't that hard to reveal that you aren't really all good and that you're also selfish." the cat cheered with a happy smile. "Now, what do we have to gear Darwin up?"

"Well, I've been thinking of giving him a bow. Since his name is Darwin, and it starts with 'D', and a 'D' looks like a bow." the pink bunny explained.

"Sounds cool." Gumball added. "Now, all we need is a plan."

* * *

><p><span>With Bobert...<span>

"Why did we follow him?" Tobias asked.

"Because we wanted to watch that fight?" Joe answered, assuming his motives were the same as Tobias.

_"You know I can hear you spying me."_ Bobert turned to them, his eye half-lidded. His voice was giving out sarcasm, which was impressive for the robot. _"But yes, I've recorded that fight. I don't know why. I need help to find out why I'm spying on the Wattersons."_

The pair nodded, glancing at each other, then back at Bobert. "Okay, I'll help." Tobias said.

"Help?!" Joe whispered, "I thought that sign you gave me was to bail!"

"Well, you can bail. But I'm helping." the jock stated.

_"Thank you, Tobias."_ Bobert said, before turning to the banana._ "And no thank you to you."_ The robot's sound sensors heard the Watterson's turning on Chanax Inc, which sent bad vibes into his processing chips.

* * *

><p><span>Chanax Incorporated...<span>

"Bobert," the man sighed, "Protocol zero."

"Sir! We're being under attack!"

"By who?"

"It's Project 5-0-N!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Holy moly, longest chapter ever... of all time.**

**Dang it, darkness got me again. Dark parts where Zach hosted the 'tournament', and began destroying the contestants. Until Tobias, Darwin and Jamie. Still, it's pretty dark in my tastes. The show is light and friendly, while I'm just doing it opposite.**

**Project 5-0-N won't be appearing soon. Just to remind you. Actually, neither will the _real_ Gumball. Okay, maybe I lied about that last part. Maybe.**


End file.
